Ryujou Chronicles 3: Daughter of the New Age
by Arhani 'Hanny' Daforcena
Summary: When Miryu, Hiko's other student, is reassigned by the Emperor to become the bodyguard of the American to train the army, she gets more than she bargained for. Last Samurai/Rurouken x over. Algren OC. Read the other 龙女 Chronicles fics first. New chap! 27!
1. Dreams

"Miryu… Where are you?" she heard the voice calling out to her. She knew that voice, it was clear, as clear as the bell on the tsuba of her katana, no, her _mother's_ katana. Yet, the voice of that man who owned that voice, she could not recognize. Who was he? How did he know her? How did all these fit into her life? It was strange, very, very strange, and she could not decipher everything. Why was she fighting against the army, when she was the Emperor Meiji's loyal bodyguard and sometimes mistress? What was she doing? She was in an open field, in the embrace and coolness of Spring, where a lone sakura tree stood over hundreds and hundreds of combatants, readily fighting for a cause that was unclear to her? She looked towards the man who called to her, and found that he was no Japanese man, he was a Caucasian, with eyes deeper than the sea…

She knew his name… Yes, she knew it well. She had met him from the moment he came to the port of Yokohama, and they met once again when he had an audience with the Emperor. "Algren…" she murmured, before allowing herself to kill yet another soldier dressed in the Westernized uniforms. He was not one of the brothers who had fought with her ten years ago in the disaster that was the Bakamatsu. He was not one of her brothers that had lived and died by the sword to restore peace and equality to Japan. He was just another peasant boy in the army, fighting for a lost cause and a corrupt Prime Minister…

"Miryu, get out of here!" the man known as Algren shouted, waving his own katana like a madman. She did not want to leave him. She could not leave him. She could not leave all that she had fought for! She knew her destiny that she had to stand her ground… "You told me that you use the sword to defend those who cannot, Miryu! If you die, who will defend them?" There is always Kenshin… She thought, grasping her katana tighter. No matter what happens, there would always be Kenshin. He was the true heir of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, not her. She was only a vassal, the only soul to aid Kenshin in upholding the principles of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu. "What would your Master say? He loved you as a daughter, he loved your mother! Would you want him to endure the pain of losing another loved one to a lost cause?"

Shishou… Hiko Seijurou XIII… He loved her greatly, as his own daughter, and gave her the gift of the sword in an age where women were exploited and cast down. His wisdom became her teachings, and she knew it very well that he was loath to see her fight, even though he was proud of her. _I cannot lose you, Miryu, I have already lost your mother…_ he told her once before.

She looked towards the man beside her, the bald, but tall leader of the resistance. "Tsubasa-san, you have honored me with your help, but if you die here, who would enlighten the Emperor? Who would open his eyes if not for the one woman who knows him for what he is?" Katsumoto looked at her tensely, knowing that he could not endure any more injuries. "Your mother did not die to protect you to die here, Miryu!" Of course he knew of the Iron Wolf-Maiden of the Shinsen-Gumi. He was no fool, nor did he feign ignorance. He was among the few among the Ishin-Ishishi who knew her, and befriended her, despite her heritage.

There was too much for her to live for. Nodding, she took up her sword, and regarded the two men with fear and hope before backing away from them. Before anyone could recognize the sapphire eyes she had, before anyone in the army knew that Tsubasa Battouryu was there in that very battlefield. Her horse was already ready for her, courtesy of Katsumoto and his men. Once she was out of sight, she fled, shedding tears for her comrades. It was not supposed to end this way. It was never supposed to end this way at all! But she had to live, to live by the sword to protect those who could not do so themselves, to be the voice of those who had none…

"I will find you," she screamed to the two men who finally convince her to run. "I swear upon my life that I will find you!"


	2. Meetings

Miryu stirred from what little sleep she had and shot her body from her futon, covered in silks and the finest of linens. Nine years… It had been nine years since the Bakamatsu had ended, and peace reigned supreme in Japan, and yes, there were several hiccoughs, but still, there was peace. She had come a long way from being a hired hitokiri to the Emperor's bodyguard, but every single effort was worthwhile. Of course, being a woman close to the Emperor's proximity meant that no other man was to touch her; it also meant that she had a chance to be his own eyes and ears regarding the outside world, where even the Emperor was forbidden to tread, and be removed from the harem as much as possible. She had riches, she had power (although she did not covet that), and more importantly, she had someone to talk to, and did not care of any implications that followed.

But why was she still reassigned, to an American no less? Had she not served the Emperor well enough, or had she not performed to his exalted expectations? She knew that he wanted to westernize and modernize the Imperial Army, but why send her to protect the man responsible to train the peasant-boys? After getting dressed, she walked to the port of Yokohama to await the American ship to dock. The place was very, very busy, bustling with life, trade and business, and she swore that it was getting more and more busy each time she got there. In her heart, this single reality made all that the Ishin-Ishishi fought for able to be proclaimed to be "achieved". It was no lie, nor was it any fantasy at any rate. It was simply too real to be ignored.

"Ah, Miss Miryu," a calm voice called to her in the purest form of native English she had ever known. It was Simon Graham, a friend of hers, who came with some British mission not long after the Bakamatsu had ended. He was intrigued by her position in the court despite being a woman, and hence, befriended her, even becoming her teacher in English. He too, was commissioned by the government to aid the American, as a translator and a mediator between the American and the Japanese Imperial Army. She smiled graciously to the jolly, stout man and exchanged both English and Japanese greetings, befitting for a woman of the court, and a noblewoman of a past that ended in smoke not long ago. "Your impeccable manners shall put all the charming geiko and maiko of the hanamachi to shame, my dear," he teased, glancing at her snakeskin-sheathed katana. "Yet, none of them can even imagine what power you hold."

Miryu chuckled. "I am flattered, Mr. Graham, I truly am," she replied, somewhat keeping her katana away from view. There was no need for her to reveal it, nor was there any use of it in a peaceful port like Yokohama. She looked towards the ship, and waited to see what the American would look like? Was he tall, like all the Caucasians, or was he short and rotund like Graham? Had he the eyes that glimmered like translucent lights, or had he hair that channeled the golden rays of the sun? She had not seen any image of this American, nor did she know his name, unlike Graham, who had gathered all the information one way or another. "So, what do you know of our American friend?" she asked with a nudge of her elbow, however, it was not Graham that answered. It was a deep voice, the baritone voice of a lone wolf.

"He was a captain in the American army, and had many brushes with the natives there," the man said, his voice distorted as he took another puff of his cigarette. It did not take Miryu more than seconds to find that her "uncle" of sorts had been with them all along. "His name is so hard to pronounce that I shall refrain from doing so."

Graham was so shocked to even look at the tall, police-uniform clad man that he could not even speak. Those amber-hued eyes, the menacing light that they carried, and that nihontou… This was no ordinary man, he was for sure, and he emitted an aura that none could ever hope to have had. This man was a Wolf, not figuratively, but a Wolf of Mibu, one of the Shinsen-Gumi. Graham had seen his photographs before. This man once went by the name of Saito Hajime; the Leader of the Shinsen-Gumi's esteemed Third Division. "I am honored to be in your presence, Fujita-dono," he said quietly, knowing full well that this man had acquired an alias to hide himself from the past, and any enemies in the current government he would have encountered. Fujita Goro was his supposed identity now, and Graham knew that clearly.

"Saito, this is Simon Graham, my colleague and my friend," Miryu said, introducing Saito to the Englishman. "And, with your intelligence network, I am sure that you would have found out his uses," Oh yes, the Wolf of Mibu would not have joined the government created by his own enemies without some underlying benefit of his own. In this context, it was an intelligence network that even the Oniwabanshuu would weep for; something that was the pride and joy of the Saito Hajime of the new age. Snorting somewhat dismissively, Saito gave the man a quick nod and warned her about the American's superior.

"He is a very… flighty man, Miryu. I would watch my back around him if I were you," he said before turning to leave. There would be a lot to tell her grandfather, Reiji, the financier of the Shinsen-Gumi, whom remained in contact with him long after the Bakamatsu, about his beloved granddaughter. "Your grandfather would not be pleased if you were victimized by some upstart Westerner."

Graham tried to hide a chuckle at Saito's words, but Miryu did not offer any response. As her sapphire eyes scanned for the passengers of the American ship who were already descending from the vessel, she merely said, "Then tell him that I would not rape some upstart American out of any whim," Her sharp tongue had been a trait that she had gotten from her Shishou, Hiko Seijurou XIII of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, there was no doubt about it. It was not long after the curt exchange of coice words before Graham started calling out to a medium-sized man with hair the color of mahogany and eyes like the tumultuous seas. His name, was Algren. A strange name, but what was stranger still was his gaze. As he went down the stairs from the ship, this Captain Algren's eyes found hers immediately, and held her sapphire eyes longer than she was willing to admit.

"Captain Algren," Graham greeted, shaking the Captain's hand briefly. "Simon Graham here, and this is Miss Tsubasa Miryu. She is to be your bodyguard, one of the Emperor's finest." For the slightest moment, Miryu could see that Algren about to raise an eyebrow. Do women not have equal opportunities in the West? This was a question that she wanted to ask him, and by the way he looked at her, she could guess his answer.

He took her hand and kissed it for the quickest moment, just at the ridge of her knuckles. Graham had told her that it was custom for men in the West to greet women thus, and so, she did not act surprised or any way slighted by his sudden move. "Thank you, Miss Tsubasa, but I don't think that your aid is necessary."

"It is, Captain Algren," she replied in perfect English, which in turn, surprised him instead. "The Emperor has commanded it, and neither you nor I can default his orders."

The Irishman with Algren could not help but smirk at her words. "This lass is a spunky one, Cap'n, ya better be careful where ya goin' with 'er,"

Once again, Algren gave a polite nod, and they all boarded the rickshaw that had been waiting for them. It would be a long ride to Tokyo, where the Emperor would be waiting for them, she knew it. But at least, it would be worth the trip. Japan would have the greatest army after this man had educated the peasant-boys everyone thought to be soldiers, and she would become a forerunner of the world as she was always destined to be…

Or at least, this was what Miryu had hoped, what a young patriot had hoped for…


	3. Introductions

Miryu looked at her new charge with intrigue and interest. The way he carried himself, the way he held himself, it was as if he was a samurai of Japan. She had known from the books she had read, that there were no warrior castes in the West, and there were certainly no honor-bound societies there, yet this Captain Algren, was special… "Forgive me, Captain, but you seem to be a man decorated with extensive knowledge of the sword, and of battle," she said, sapphire eyes scanning him up and down. "Your Ki, it is like a flame…"

Algren stared at her for awhile, and asked, "Ki?"

Graham cleared his throat, and said, "It is the internal energy within ourselves, Captain. The Oriental swordsmen think that there exists energy within every being that can be used as a weapon, in China, it is what they call 'Chi'". Algren looked back at Miryu, his hands almost touching her face, before he snaps out of his trance-like state, and maintains a respectable distance. He was told by Graham that she was the Emperor's bodyguards reassigned to him, and while she was not listening, had known from the Englishman that she would sometimes become the Emperor's mistress, and that there were rumors saying that the young woman had once been proposed to become the Empress of all Japan, but she declined, desiring freedom. By oath and by honor, she could not be married to any man unless the Emperor saw fit, as her repayment to the Emperor for honoring her wish to remain his bodyguard. It was all hogwash, according to Graham, but something in her eyes and the way she acted made Algren assume that the rumors held some truth.

"Yes, ma'am, I was a soldier," Algren said to Miryu. "And I understand that you fought in a similar war?" He wanted to know more about Japan, more about the woman that was his bodyguard. He had heard that the Emperor rebelled against the Shogun to regain his throne, and that Japan was plunged into civil war, and that Miryu was one of the Emperor's champions. She was beautiful, and tall, unlike the petite, dainty women around them. And her eyes, those eyes were like ice, yet they seemed to have contained a fire untamed, wild and restive. She was a breath of fresh air among the common wildflowers in spring and a warrior at that…

Nodding sadly, Miryu gave him a positive answer. "I was only a girl of fifteen when I left my… home to fight for the Emperor, to give Japan freedom from corruption and oppression, but the damage had been done long before I was hired as a hitokiri, or as your tongue calls it, an assassin…" She suddenly found the words that she had always uttered in pride unable to exit her lips, and did not know why. She looked towards Graham, and motioned for him to continue.

"Five years before Miryu fought for the Ishin-Ishishi, or the Emperor, your Commodore Perry sails in with his gunboats and politely requests that they open the country to trade or he'll burn the place to the ground," Graham said gravely. "Their whole world turned upside down in an instant. Men and women crying in the streets, even the mighty Samurai couldn't figure out how to fight back…"

Gant, the Irishman companion of Algren's then asked Miryu, "So, lassie, what kind of assassin were you?"

"Well, my Irish friend, I am the sort where I receive a black envelope of my targets' name and location, and I kill them, as silently as possible, in the dead of the night, or in the open light of day," she answered calmly, playing with her tanto, using it as a manicure-instrument. "Sometimes, my superiors would order me to hang my victims in the city square, and other times, kill them before starving hounds, leaving their hands and feet as evidence…" Gant gulped, and remained silent. "Of course, the honor of the Samurai could not be applied in those dark days; we needed a quick victory before too many of the innocent suffered."

There was a silence so thick that Miryu was sure that she could cut it with her katana, and she knew that it was Graham's job to make it less so. Kicking him in the shin, she made clear her point, and Graham continued his history lesson of sorts. "Twenty years ago, this was a sleepy little town," he said, "Now look at it!" The streets of Yokohama were now so full of life, in a pace that dizzied everyone and anyone. "The Japanese, they are clever," Graham continued, "They hired people from all over the world to beat us at our own game. I came with the British mission years ago, but I was soon relieved of my position."

At those words, Miryu chuckled lightly. "He had an unfortunate tendency to tell the truth in a country where no one said what they mean," she told Algren and Gant with a light smile, enchanting the American to no end. Was she some kind of angel, to own such a musical laughter? Was it even natural? How was she, such a jovial and joyful woman able to become an assassin without the nightmares he went through? Did he not commit to his duty to his country, as she did? Why was she so different? "So now he very accurately translates other people's lies." She looked at Algren, and found that he did not share the laughter, like Gant did. Was he always that stoic? "Captain Algren, are you well?"

Algren looked into her sapphire eyes and said, "Yes, Miss Tsubasa, I was just a little tired from my travels." She nodded in understanding, and gave him another smile. It was warm, and very, very slight, but he could see it clearly. The look that a warrior gave to another, when times were tough, when they knew they were treading down a path that would lead to the same fate, when they understood what the other was going through.

"Then you should rest, my American friend," she replied just as the rickshaw stopped. They had arrived in front of a great and beautiful courtyard, and with nimble and agile movements, Miryu descended the rickshaw and paid the driver, before helping Algren and Gant unload their luggage. "This ryokan was set up by my friend from my days as an assassin, so we will have privacy, as well as seclusion if you so wish it. I shall leave you here for the night, gentlemen, for I have my own matters to attend to. Graham, can you manage them all by yourself?"

Graham seemed insulted by her, but bowed as she bowed to him. "Don't talk to strangers, and don't try to go home if it is too dark!" he teased, speaking in a tone like a father does his daughter. Miryu chuckled, and gave him a hug before turning to leave. Like the wind, she came and went, as always, with only the sound of the bell on her katana to indicate where she currently was.


	4. Freedom

"Tsubasa Miryu, how do you find your new charge?" a voice asked Miryu the moment she approached the Emperor's quarters in the Imperial Palace. It was not a long walk from the ryokan Algren, Gant and Graham lodged in, but far enough for assailants and other beasts to have found and tracked her. She looked at the owner of the voice and smiled. With a deep bow, she regarded the Emperor Meiji of Japan, of whom this age of peace was named for. He was her employer, and a great friend of hers. She looked at him, and was surprised that he could have even thought of reassigning her to Algren. Not that she disliked the man, but she was just curious. Why Algren, of all people?

She motioned for a palace maid to serve them tea, and she sat next to the Emperor when he told her to. "He is a strange man, heika… He is the first among thousands of gaijin that carries himself like a samurai that has eyes so fraught with turmoil and sadness," she said, tucking her chin between her knees, the silver embroidery on her dark kimono glimmering as she did so. "Captain Algren, you know more about him that I do, heika. You read his book! Please, why him?"

The Emperor's answer was simple. "Because I am sure that you will find happiness in him," he said calmly. He had always loved her, but he also knew that she did not reciprocate that love. Her heart was too set for the freedom she had always had, and she feared the Imperial Court as much as she loved her country. Her parents had been destroyed by the politics of the ancient times, and she did not wish to be caught in the same web. She had wanted a life far away from the sheltered beauty of the Court, as one of its leaders, where she would be under close watch by others… He was young, no younger than she was, the Ruler of the Chrysanthemum Throne, and yet, he had insight and intelligence. "And, he was the most honorable man that I can find to change my army,"

Nothing short of a soft sigh escaped her lips when she heard those words. "A killer like me deserves no happiness," she replied, looking towards the stars. _Get away from me!_ She remembered a woman screaming bloody murder after one of her assignments. _Who do you think you are, killing everyone? How many families have you destroyed, how many fathers, husbands and brothers have you killed? _In the years of the Bakamatsu, she had killed more than six hundred men from her assignments alone, perhaps hundreds and hundreds more in all the skirmishes and battles she had fought in. She had come so far from being that orphaned little girl searching for her friend, with only the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu and the name "Kenshin" as her guide. Her sapphire eyes were filled once with rage, then, when Tomoe died, they were filled with reflective melancholy, they were filled with sad light that no one but the Emperor was able to see, and perhaps her Shishou as well. "Not from the Emperor, not from anyone,"

Meiji put a hand on her lap, and tipped her chin so as to force her to look at him. "Miryu, everyone deserves a little happiness of themselves," he said. He knew that he never had a chance with her, she, whose smile was brightest when she held a weapon in her hands, when she was around those who knew her, those who understood her, and those who held her dear. The look of determination in her eyes when she was sparring with the Imperial guards, when she was deep in her practice and her meditation was ever so beautiful, ever so intense. He could have sworn that he had seen a sword-wielding angel descend from the heavens… Her soul, it may have been stained by the blood of many, but it was still full of light, full of hope for the new age. She had risen from the darkest of terrors to lead Japan, if not forcefully, into the embrace of peace and enlightenment with Himura Battousai, and the other Ishin-Ishishi patriots and she had succeeded. "And I wish you find your own, someone who can wipe that mask of a smile away from you, and reveal the true, beautiful Tsubasa Miryu."

Miryu smiled, trying not to shed a tear. "Forgive me, heika. For all your help and kind words, I am unable to repay you in kind," she said, forcing a smile. She knew that he only asked for her love in return, but she could not. She had loved this man, this visionary, like a brother, like how she had loved Kenshin, and no more. Her heart was saved for a man, who he was, she did not know, but this man, she knew, was not the Emperor of all Japan. He had a good heart, but it was not hers to claim.

"I would not want to force you to a life that you do not wish to lead," Emperor Meiji said, holding her close in a friendly embrace. It was the closest he could get to actually have her in his arms, and he cherished the moment. "You are a great friend of mine, and I want only the best for you." He remembered the first day she had been in his service. She was both fearful and worried that she might offend him, always alert and stalwart, constantly on the watch for his life. As time passed, she realized that all he had wanted, was a companion, and slowly opened up to him, talking to him. And when she found out that he did not give a damn that her parents were supporters of the Shogun before their death, she was even more surprised.

"So that is why you had me reassigned?" she asked him, "Because you want me free from the courts?"

The young Emperor gave her a simple nod. "I told you before, I am the Emperor of Japan," he replied with a small, cheeky smile. "What I say goes, and I say that it is time you live the life that you desire, because you desire it,"

She smiled, and hugged him closely. "Thank you, heika," she exclaimed, and bowed before going on her merry way. Of course, she was still a Ward of the Emperor, but, her freedom from the beautiful palaces of Tokyo and the ladies of court and the ministers was just too much for her to take in. Yes, she loved her job as the Emperor's bodyguard, but now, she was free!

"And one more thing before you leave," Meiji said, "If you want to marry, bring the man to me. I'll want to… inspect him…"


	5. Beginnings

Miryu watched Algren, Gant and Graham entering the parade grounds in the Imperial Army's training facility with General Hasegawa, a seasoned warrior and soldier, who fought beside Miryu in the Bakamatsu, as one of her superiors and comrades in those dark days, and smiled. The conscripts did not stand a chance against what Algren had in store of them, she was sure. "Tsubasa-san, I have received word that you have been reassigned by the Emperor?" Hasegawa asked Miryu with a raised eyebrow. He had known this woman ever since she was a chirpy, ever-happy fifteen year-old assassin, and knew of the close relationship she came to have with the young Emperor Meiji. It was something that came to him as special, yet totally disregarding the ancient traditions of their people, but it was what the Emperor had wanted, a bodyguard, as young as he was, to be involved with him as a friend, if she wished not to be an Empress.

Looking at her old friend (no pun intended), she replied, "His Majesty has mercifully granted my freedom from the courts, Hasegawa-san," Her voice, it was filled with a simple joy that Hasegawa always knew would be in her. It was what made her, well, Tsubasa Miryu. "I am to protect the American instead, and I am also free to marry, according to the Emperor, of course." The General smiled. Men had always the strangest relationships with her, and the Emperor of Japan was not one who was able to escape from that fact. Most of her comrades in the Ishin-Ishishi looked upon her like their own daughter and younger sister, while those in closest proximity to her in age and in mind look upon her like a great friend, and not as a potential lover… Would it be so hard if she was to be a conventional woman for a moment?

She diverted her attention to the conscripts and tried to suppress a little chuckle. They were afraid, of course, what with the news of rebellion that Katsumoto Mori would instigate sooner or later, with the new so-called superior Western-training techniques that Algren would have brought. "Hasegawa-san, do you think that these boys can hold out on their own anytime soon?" she asked while Algren, Gant and Graham disembarked from their rickshaw. Hasegawa's answer was only a small, subtle snort, an answer that Miryu knew very well.

When Algren set his eyes on Miryu once again, he was more than surprised, dreadfully close to gawking at her to see her in her own personalized version of the Imperial Army's uniform, her long, straight hair braided and tied into an elegant bun, to keep it from obstructing her view. It was strange to see a woman in uniform, and stranger still to see a woman carry a katana as proudly as any man, along with a pair of whips attached to either side of her belt. She was also wearing leather boots with a slight heel, a complete turn from her more demure semblance in a traditional kimono as he had seen her in… He could have sworn that she gave him a slight smile when she turned towards him, walking next to a man with white hair and a white moustache, no doubt another soldier who had seen his fair share of battles and war.

"Gentlemen, may I present General Hasegawa," Graham said, while Miryu took her place next to Gant, as Algren's formal bodyguard. "He will assist you in the training the Imperial Army," The sight that followed next was ultimately one of awkwardness, as cultures clashed literally, with Algren offering his hand in a hand-shake, and Hasegawa bowing. It was not long before Miryu took the liberty of whispering into Algren's ear that the Japanese greeted one another by bowing did alterations to their greetings were made, and both men were properly introduced to one another. Hasegawa then told Algren that he greets the American with utmost courtesy, and invites him to look at the Imperial Army, translated by Graham, of course.

Gant then took the opportunity of their walking towards a platform which oversaw almost every single part of the training grounds to sneak a few words with Miryu. "So, Miss Tsubasa, why is it that you are surrounded by all those old, musty military men?" he asked her, with a brief nod towards Hasegawa's general direction. "Shouldn't you be in tea-houses with chaperones looking out for prospective husbands?" Naturally, he knew from Gant that she was no ordinary Japanese woman, but he would very much like to poke a little fun at her, to lighten the stiff mood of the military.

Miryu chuckled, and swatted his arm. "And look who is talking, Mr. Gant?" she asked in return with a mischievous smile, giving Gant a little mirror she retrieved from her pocket so that he could see his own graying hair. "I fought side by side men like Hasegawa more than a decade ago, they are like my fathers, uncles and brothers all rolled into one, so that is why, I still surround myself with them. Apart from my martial art's teacher who raised me, I have no one else." Defeated, Gant decided to leave the teasing for later, both joining Algren in his inspection of the soldiers in the training grounds.

The soldiers were all wearing uniforms too large for their own bodies, making them look too baggy, while the expressions of their faces were that of uncertainty and a little hint of fear. These were not what soldiers were meant to look like, and were far from Algren's expectations. Even the soldiers who received the poorest training in America could do better than they did, or so he thought. Hasegawa cleared his throat and asked for Algren's forgiveness, explaining that the new conscripts were mere peasants who held little responsibility or power. And when asked what training did the soldiers received, Hasegawa replied that they have trained the soldiers enough not to shoot their asses off. The look on the general's face was wry, and Algren sighed. What had he gotten himself into?

"May I interrupt, Algren?" Miryu asked, her sapphire eyes coming into direct contact with that of Algren's. "These mere boys will need more than just authority to be trained. They would need reinforcement on who is the boss, and be beaten into shape with a strong mallet."


	6. Origins

During the day, Miryu was the stoic, silent bodyguard of Captain Algren, who was to train the Imperial Army, but during the night, she would be his drinking partner as well. This was the woman who knew all the best restaurants, where the best Sake, in terms of quality, and not price, would be sold to regular customers. She would be the one to tell them stories about Japan, the myths, the patriots, and what the politicians did not want others to know. She knew them all.

"So, girlie, what about ya?" Gant asked Miryu one night in a soba shack that served Sake as well. It was one stall that a "high and important Shogunate warrior" used to frequent whenever he was in Tokyo, according to her, and the Irishman had to admit, the food was not half bad. "How did you come into the picture, with all these bastards killing one another?"

If Graham had acted quickly enough, he would have kicked the vulgar Irishman in the shin for daring to ask Miryu such a question. Her past as a hitokiri was not a problem for her, a woman held in high honor by Japan, a woman cherished by the Emperor and held dear by the men who carved the Meiji government from the blood and the bodies of the Bakufu; but her origins, how she came to be, was. During the Ishin-Ishishi, she would have been executed, or ordered to commit seppuku if she revealed who she really was. Of course, she used the name Tsubasa freely, as a sign of defiance, to bring shame to her father's clan, but that was where it all ended. She was Tsubasa Battouryu, the daughter of the Tsubasa Clan no one knew about, defected from her family, was disowned, and joined the Ishin-Ishishi.

It was then when Algren noticed a change in her demeanor. Miryu had always been cheerful, and she would always be smiling. But now, she was the complete opposite. In the matter of seconds, she became withdrawn, silent and reserved. "Miryu, (he had grown so accustomed to her that he stopped calling her Miss Tsubasa) you don't have to answer Zeb if you don't want to," he said, his voice almost tender. For a moment, she regarded her charge, and took a big gulp of Sake. It was time she had faced herself, who she really was, and not hide in the shadows any longer. It was time that she had basked in the light of the new age that she had brought with her own two hands.

A smile broke through her sudden graveness, and she said, "No, I must do this, for myself." After finishing the rest of her soba, she adjusted her black locks, taking a deep breath before she started to tell them a story that she never would have thought she would ever tell. "You already know that I was a hitokiri, and that my counterpart, hitokiri Battousai, come from the same kenjutsu school as I did. However, Battousai was not born into a Samurai clan, I was. I am a daughter of two clans that were among the most powerful: the Tsubasa clan, and the Reiyama Clan. My mother, Reiyama Ryumiko, was the Captain of the First Division of the Shinsen-Gumi before Okita Souji, and she was promised to my father, Tsubasa Akurou by my grandfather to gain political favor. But, she was in love with a man named Hiko Seijurou, a man with no master, a swordsman regarded as among the best in Japan…"

Even then, Graham joined in with Gant and Algren. He had not heard of that part of her story before. All he knew about Miryu was that her mother killed her father to protect her from him, and that Reiyama Ryumiko died fighting. She was trained by a mysterious swordsman, yes, he did not know that the Iron Wolf-Maiden of the Shinsen-Gumi, or the Tetsu-Rou-Jou in Japanese, was in love with her Master, or Shishou, as she called him.

"Hiko Seijurou loved her as well, but there was nothing they could do. My mother had her own duty to her clan, and her father, while Hiko Seijurou had the principles of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu to uphold. It was a difficult decision for them, but they had to do it. And when my mother married into the Tsubasa Clan, many evils befell her. My father, he was an opium addict, and would often beat and violate her… One day, my paternal grandfather was so incensed with her that he dragged her back to the Shinsen-Gumi headquarters to deal with her father, who had her whipped, even if she was three months pregnant."

Gant had the sudden urge to say, "That good-for-nothing bastard!" but he refrained himself from doing so, having a feeling that it would hurt Miryu even more. He did not know that she had such a complex past, a violent and brutal one at that, and marveled at her ability to hold herself with such honor and integrity. No doubt, Algren thought the same way about her.

The American looked at her, and put a hand on top of hers. "Miryu, are you alright?" he asked when she stopped, trying to suppress a tear. He knew that she had a right not to divulge what she could not, but there was this determination in her that burnt so brightly that she was able to deny the pain she felt. She really wanted to come to terms with her past, to know that she was born to a father who did not love her mother, out of a union blessed only in politics and strife. The gaze that she had shared with Algren may have been brief, but to the both of them, it seemed like forever. She could see that he held the same fears, the same pain and the shame of their past deeds that she held as well.

Nodding her head, she mouthed a word of thanks, and continued her tale. "My mother ran to Hiko Seijurou, and he took care of her. It turned out that her father already knew what was happening, and struck her so that she could run away back into her beloved's arms. And when I was born, my father came with his clan's henchman, wanting to take us back as slaves, but my mother fought and killed him, but she was spent, and passed on in Hiko Seijurou's arms. I was named Miryu, as she wanted, and Hiko Seijurou took me under his wing, as my Shishou. He taught me, and Battousai soon after…"

The rest of her tale, was now an open secret. Hitokiri Battousai, at the age of 15, left Hiko Seijurou and Miryu and his training to fight in the Bakamatsu, siding with the Ishin-Ishishi. He got himself into the Kiheitai, and was discovered by Katsura Kogoro, a revolutionary, the leader of the Choushu Han. And then, half a year later, Miryu, came into the city of Kyoto, with a katana, and only two names: Kenshin and the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, and was found by patriots of the Choushu Han, and was also made a Hitokiri for her skills. Even nine years after the Ishin-Ishishi has won the Bakamatsu, and the Boshin Wars just coming into an end, the deeds of Battousai and Battouryu was still the talk of many a conversation. And Algren had the honor of having the beautiful and intelligent Tsubasa Battouryu as his bodyguard. It was an opportunity that Algren knew could not go to waste, and somehow, he just knew that there was more than Miryu than just her smile, her laughter and her talent in tactics and the martial arts. He would just have to find it, and see for himself.


	7. Friction

"You have been extremely quiet after dinner," Algren said to Miryu as she walked back to the American's quarters with him. "Was it because of what Gant made you say?" There was genuine concern in his eyes when he said those words, which confused her. What was she to him, why did he have to keep making her life so much more difficult? He had taken her hand during dinner, and it made her feel unlike anything she had felt before. It was so… unnatural to her, to feel such tenderness from someone who barely knew her over the last few weeks. Yet, it was as if she had known him all along… She felt like not answering his question, like just casting him into a deep hole and burying him alive so that she would not have to see his strange, but mystifying eyes. "Miryu, is there anything wrong?"

She took a deep breath, and shook her head. "Captain, there is nothing to worry about," she replied, forcing a smile, hoping that he would buy her feeble attempt in trying to hide her troubles from him. Letting her own sapphire eyes fall upon the ground as they continued walking, she decided not to think about him anymore. But how was it possible when he was just right next to her, when she could feel his Ki, so strong and stable, when she knew that he wanted to reach out to her? "Please, it does not do you well to dwell on my troubles… I am but your bodyguard…" She would have continued further had he not stopped in his tracks and put a silencing finger to her lips.

Deep down, Algren tried his best to control himself, to not kiss her until she released any single self-berating thought in her mind. Why did she think of herself so lowly? Was she not a descendant of samurai, of birth so high that she could well be nobility? "I worry for you, Miryu, because I think that you are more than just my bodyguard," he said, his voice more than just intoxicating to her ears. Looking into her eyes as he gently tilted her head, forcing her to look into his as well; he found something profound within those deep blue orbs. He knew now that it was not due to her telling of her origins, but because of something else. Now, all he had to do was to find what it was.

She did not give him a chance to continue. She could not bring herself to do that. She did not want to know what he would say next, nor did she want that to concern her. They had come to his quarters, and hers was just opposite. In that hallway, she cleared her throat, and said to him, "Captain, I am a ward of the Emperor, and your assigned bodyguard… There can be nothing between us other than that." Her voice to him was cold, and to her, it was a relief that she could still muster the courage to say such words. She was afraid, afraid that her captivation of the American would turn into something more. Was she always like this? What did she have against him?

"But why?" he asked of her, accidentally blurting out the words that he had not meant to utter. For a second there, he thought that she could have killed him… She did not do anything. She just looked at him, and he could see that her gaze was embittered, broken and filled with confusion. "I can help you, Miryu…"

"You will only make matters worse, Captain," she replied coldly, looking away from him. "Do not misunderstand me, Captain, but we are kept in close proximity only because of our duties, and nothing else can deny that…" She hesitated. She knew not what more to say, what more words to add in order to keep him away. And it was this hesitation that gave Algren a little sliver of hope. So, before he could say anything, she gave him a customary bow, and fled into her room. Her sapphire eyes were the last things that Algren saw, and somehow, he knew that he was lucky that it was not her katana.

* * *

Graham, always being the person who would be at wrong situations and wrong times (for the people he eavesdropped upon, of course) heard and saw everything. He was about to visit Miryu with a pot of excellent tea when he saw it, and decided that the woman would need to be alone. Instead, he went to see Gant, who would most certainly know a thing or two about Algren.

"The Cap'n?" Zebulon Gant asked Graham when the Englishman asked him about any female encounters that Algren had. "Hmm… Women come to him in droves and droves, but he just ain't interested… Some even thought that he rooted for the wrong side, if you caught me drift…"

Ah, Graham thought to himself, they thought that Nathan Algren was a homosexual. "Has any woman come even close to him?"

"Uh… not that I remember of…" Gant replied, which made Graham heave a sigh of relief. "Wait, what are ya implying? Are ya… interested?"

It was then when the always prim and proper English gentleman lost his composure and spat out the whiskey in his mouth. "Heavens, no, you daft fool!" he exclaimed. "It is about Miryu! Algren has a deep interest Miryu and it seems that Miryu feels the same way!"

Gant's expression changed in less than milliseconds. "Well, the Cap'n _is_ very interested in the lassie, murderous woman she is," he recalled. "Caught him many times watching her when she wasn't looking..."

"Do you think that Captain Algren has ever acted like that?"

"Not ever. He's like a little teenager who found a beautiful girl, thinking about her all the time," Gant replied. "But take my word for it, the lassie is one live fire, and the Cap'n would have a hard, hard time trying to catch her attention."

Nodding, Graham decided to let the matter rest. As much as he had viewed Miryu as a great friend of his, and to some extent, a niece that just had to be doted by a bachelor uncle, he wanted her to be happy, and if Algren wanted to make a move on her, he had better made sure that Algren did just that. He did not know how long would the American soldier would take to court the affections of the free-spirited Japanese warrior, but he knew that it would be a lovely tale to tell in the future, indeed.


	8. Breakthrough

After weeks of training under Nathan Algren's hands, the Imperial Army was shaping up rather nicely. In fact, those in high positions of the military were so pleased with the progress that they had managed to get the clearance of a great military exercise, where all the foreign diplomats were invited. Miryu, however, was one that was not pleased with the event. More people around the parade grounds meant that there were more threats to Algren's safety. To her, it was another hard day on the job, but she knew that it was one that was rather necessary, where the diplomats could finally see what the army was capable of, and that they were not some weaklings that would run at any sight of a threat.

Dressed in full dress-uniform, Miryu looked more ravishing than ever. Hers was white, unlike that of the other soldiers, as well as Gant and Algren's. Her long hair was tied up into a bun, tucked under a hat that revealed a strange scar on her neck, one that Algren had never seen before. "It is the word, _ryu_," she said to him when she caught him staring at it. "It was carved by Battousai's late wife before she died, to remind me of my duties as a student of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu." It was what she had wanted to believe when Tomoe had made such a mark on her, as she had added another thin line on Kenshin's face. Truth be told, she would rather be seen with such a scar in a military setting than be seen with such a scar in the garden party that was witnessing the military performance. She herself felt more comfortable with her katana near her, rather than having resort to hidden knives and tantou when she was forced to attend those flimsy balls and parties the Emperor was required to attend, and she ordered to look… presentable.

She walked behind Algren and his superior, a man named Bagley, a Colonel in the American army. And she knew that all the pretty ladies were talking about her. She did not need her superior swordswoman's training to know about that. They had talked about how much she was around men of all ages, and how used to her they were. "Relax, Miryu," Algren said when a diplomat was seen to be approaching him, placing a hand on hers, the one which was now resting tensely on the tsuba of her katana. She knew that diplomat more than Algren did, and she was more than positive that he had some team of thugs behind him hiding in plain sight. She wanted to knock his hand off hers, but for some reason, she was strangely attracted to his warmth. Although their actions were discreet, being warriors of great caliber, she could still hear the pretty ladies gossiping. They had eyes of hawks and ears of foxes, she thought, and pondered why was she still unmoving.

The French diplomat who was approaching Algren exclaimed, "Marvelous, Captain!" He saw Miryu behind him, and gave her a curt nod. He had known this woman for her reputation as a former assassin, and the woman once closest to the Emperor, having seen her with the company of many war veterans and the Emperor himself. "Such discipline, such splendor! We are so thrilled that you are here, and the entire diplomatic community is talking of nothing else." Algren just gave him a polite nod and made to turn away, seeing Miryu's insistence. He had long since released his hold over her hand, and she took a step back and bowed. Her sapphire eyes were still fixed on him, and not far from the distance, she saw a familiar figure. Even Saito was there, ensuring her of the danger that would there… "You must dine with us at the embassy…"

Just then, as if by a stroke of luck, Graham came to their rescue. "Monsieur Tarquin," he said, "Forgive me, the Captain is required urgently back at the headquarters…" He then turned to steer Algren away. "Captain, hasn't Miryu warned you of this man? He would most likely poison your soup if you accepted that invitation."

Miryu nodded, and quipped. "The Dutch who was supposed to have your job was found to be poisoned with mercury. Tarquin had it laced into his miso soup…" There was a slight giggle in her voice, and she knew that he would not have believed her, and so she added, "Luckily, he had a flair for showing his wealth. The silver chopsticks he served his guests with immediately turned black when he accidentally slipped them into his soup-bowl…"

Graham looked around and heaved a sigh. "Oh, aren't the vultures hungry today?" Miryu did the same, and started to have her hand to the tsuba of her katana again. As they passed by more and more diplomats, he and Miryu began to unravel their deepest, darkest secrets, like the German one that beats his wife, the other French one that was a pederast, and the Russian diplomat that was a total drunk. "You are a popular boy, my friend," he said, "Everyone wants to get a good look at the competition…"

"This trade deal must be a pretty penny," Algren stated.

"More than just a pretty penny, the shiniest one in the lot of many," Miryu explained, not noticing that his hand had somehow found her, much like how Kenshin and Tomoe were during the Ikedaya Incident.

The Englishman agreed with Miryu. "Yes, Japan _is_ the first leg. Next stop is Korea, the Philippines, and then the biggest prize of all… China." He had heard that the Dowager Empress wanted the best soldiers to train her failing army, and what Miryu had gathered from her grandfather, Reiyama Reiji was that she wanted to the soldiers to guard the opium trade routes… Of course, everything had to do with opium these days, and she knew that China would be the main prize, because of the money would be financing more than just trade, but also the Imperialist systems. She had been trained in languages and politics after being Emperor Meiji's bodyguard, just for the purpose of gathering information silently.

Just as Algren was about to speak again, they could see Prime Minister Omura and his entourage, which was not a good thing. She looked at him, and found that the military genius that she had protected with Kenshin during the later years of the Bakamatsu had gone. In his place, was a government official that knew only the riches that he could amass should any country be willing to trade arms with Japan, and she was worried. This man was too engrossed in the ways of the West that he would most probably break Japan into two to revolutionize the country, and she no longer trusted him. His attempts at small talk were nothing that she took lightly, and she wanted to get Algren out of Omura's sight as fast as possible. However, he was quicker than she was. "You are a valued part of His Imperial Highness' plans," he said, "And you will be honored to know that he has commanded your presence at the Imperial Palace."

Miryu wanted to tell him that it could be a trap, but she knew Emperor Meiji too well, just as she knew Omura. She noticed the distaste in his voice, and decided to let him be. "Algren, all will be well," she said to him, and nodded towards Omura. After all, he was a companion and a brother of arms to her once.

"Also, Miryu-chan, the Emperor wishes to see you once again," Omura continued. "He hopes to know that you are well, and demands a report from Algren on your performance thus far…"

His words left a bitter taste in her mouth. How could she have forgotten about the one man that cared for her, ever since the Bakamatsu ended? With a small nod, she said, "And I shall make my humbled appearance before the ruler of the Chrysanthemum Throne, Omura-senpai, as commanded of me…"


	9. Audience

It was a rare honor for a commoner to even have the chance and honor to gaze upon the Emperor of Japan, but for a gaijin, a foreigner to do so, it was almost impossible that the said individual could have such blessing in ten lifetimes. Yet, Nathan Algren was a man of such sheer luck (as he deemed it in his humble opinion) to have secured an honor as high as this. He, Gant and Graham were awoken by Miryu when twilight came, and as loathe as he was to rise, he knew that he had no choice. "You have been graced by a strange show of honor, Captain," she said sternly after playfully dousing him with ice-cold water from the nearby well after failing to use more conventional methods to rouse him from his sleep. "Emperor Meiji does not like to be kept waiting,"

If it were not the fact that she was a woman, or that he had taken a strange liking towards her, he would have killed her for daring to wake him so abruptly. It was nearing torture to wake him so early, especially after so many rounds of Sake with Hasegawa, Graham, Gant and her. Why was she not having a hangover like he was? "What time is it?" he asked her, watching her flit across his rooms, trying to find something suitable for him to wear.

"Early enough to save your skin if you _are_ really late for an Imperial audience," she said, giving him his other set of dress uniforms. "I cannot hang around here for too long, Captain, I have to get ready as well, but do not worry, I already made sure that Zeb and Simon have already bathed and changed, so you will have the ofuro all to yourself…" Having said that, she left his room, and the last thing he heard from her was the shutting of her own door…

* * *

Not half an hour later, all four of them were assembled outside the quarters, with Colonel Bagley, and true to prediction by Graham, Miryu would appear in a kimono, due to the formal instances of their audience. However, the kimono she wore was everything more than ordinary. It was made out of the finest silk, a rich red gown with a white obi. She did not wear her hair long, but in the manner of all Japanese women, in a traditional up do, with hair-sticks studded with precious stones. The only thing that separated her from the rest of the women of nobility or high rank was definitely her katana, which she kept tucked into her obi. "You look absolutely stunning, my dear!" Graham praised when she emerged from the courtyard, which ignited a blush from her, something that Algren had never seen before. Heck, the change was so stark that even Bagley began to take notice of her, politely taking off his hat and greeting her, even if he rarely acknowledged her existence.

A half-smile forming on his lips, Algren whispered to her as they boarded the same rickshaw, "You look beautiful," And they were words that caused her to almost fall from the rickshaw as she was trying to get on, words that she did not know would have such a huge impact on her. Throughout the journey to the ancestral palace, Graham was gushing on and on regarding the palace etiquettes, and how much honor has been bestowed upon them, leaving Algren and Miryu to steal little glances at each other. It was strange for him to encounter a woman that made him act like a teenager all over again, but somehow, he welcomed the experience. Miryu was a very special woman, not just because she could use a sword, but because of her spirit. No woman in America, let alone the West, could have that much courage and energy as she did. They were complacent, and submissive, totally unlike her… She was a breath of fresh air, something that he began to appreciate more and more.

When they walked up the steps that led to the Emperor's throne room, Miryu excused herself from the men. "My audience with the Emperor is after yours, gentlemen," she said with a slight bow, but not before pulling Algren into a quiet corner to give him a quick kiss on his cheek, shocking him to no end. "For luck, Captain," she added, before disappearing into the corridors of the palace. There was no doubt that she would know them well, and he tried to kick himself mentally for allowing that one small kiss from affecting him further. How was it possible that she could do such things to him?

Soon, the time had come for them to enter the throne room, and it was a practically unnerving time indeed. The chamber was wide as it was spacious, but the only people in it were the two rows of advisors, Omura at their head, as well as Graham, Algren and Bagley (Gant was to wait outside the palace, the poor man). It was a sight that was awe-inspiring as it was frightening, as they did not know how to act before the Emperor, or how to speak with him, not even Graham, who only had inklings as to what they were supposed to do. Slowly, slowly, Graham told them to bow, and after taking a few steps forward, he told them to do so once again, their acts as if each bow contained precious glass ornaments that would break if they were too careless. And when they saw the face of Emperor Meiji, they were dumbfounded.

This man, this Emperor, whose lives half of Japan fought for naught ten years ago, was little more than in his twenties, only a few years older than Miryu was. Yet, despite all his youth, Algren could see that this man was more than he seemed to be. He had an air of wisdom about him, one of intelligence, and one of graveness. There was a slight glint of triumph in Omura's eyes, but one of curiosity and intrigue from the Emperor. He had not seen such a man before, and found that the sovereign of the Chrysanthemum Throne was more than just a boy on a throne…

And before all their eyes, Miryu appeared from behind the Emperor's throne, still in her kimono. She went before the Emperor, and only the Emperor, and prostrated herself before him, before rising again with great diginity, and stood by his side. At this moment, Algren swore that he would have thought that Miryu was the Empress, if she were not already his bodyguard, for it was nigh impossible to feign the authorative glimmer in her sapphire eyes, the completely straight movements that came from years of discipline, and that ethereal beauty… However, he had no time to ponder on such things, there were pressing matters at hand…

Omura bowed to all of them, and said, "The divine Emperor Meiji bids you welcome. He is grateful for the assistance that your country offers, and we hope to accomplish the same national harmony that you enjoy in your homeland."

Algren heaved a silent sigh. There was sure to be more to come, he was sure of it. And far from his own sight, the ruler of all Japan stole a glance towards Miryu, but was crestfallen when he found out that she did not return it, not like the old times they shared together. That day, her smile belonged to Algren's, and somehow, the god in human form felt relieved, relieved that she might have a chance of happiness with the American, if she could not find happiness with him…


	10. Lucky

Emperor Meiji did not know who Algren was. All he knew that he needed a Westerner, trained in the art of warfare, who had honor that could rival that of the Samurai, to renew and refurbish his Imperial Army. He had made many private arrangements with the foreign diplomats, who were all unable to name one such man, except for the American ambassador's secretary, who had fought alongside him before serving under the embassy. And when he had heard tales of his valor, of his love for languages, and his affection for life, he knew that this man could have the key to Miryu's heart… Also, this man had experience fighting with indigenous tribes in America, could it be that they were no different that Katsumoto and his rebels?

When he spoke to Algren, Emperor Meiji did so in his own tongue, in Japanese. Of course, he understood English, but it was rather hard for him to speak it, to grasp it as fluently as the native speakers did so (and much to his chagrin, Miryu could speak most perfectly in English, and also French, German and Mandarin Chinese, as part of her training as an Imperial bodyguard). His words would be translated, and he would know if any single word was mistranslated. He knew that although Omura had every intention to do so, to have his own gain, his Prime Minister would not do it. "Captain Algren," Omura addresses the Captain in the manner as the Emperor had done so, "The Emperor is most interested in your American Indians, and wishes to know if you have seen them firsthand."

Miryu looked at the Emperor, and almost chuckled. It was just like him, to be fascinated by the most curious of details. He was inquisitive, and most amusingly so, that if he found an unsolved marvel, he would not eat and sleep until he had solved it, or someone did so for him. He smiled back at her, shaking his head, a sign that even he, the ruler of Japan, did not know what was going on in his mind. She winked at him, and they returned their attention back to the current situation. They watched as Algren and Graham exchanged glances, and finally Graham translated Algren's affirmative answer into Japanese after Miryu nodded to them, indicating that they were permitted to speak. Soon after, the Emperor whispers into her ears instead, and her face changed from one of jovial casualness to one of sheer seriousness. She nodded to his words, and her eyes remained still fixed on Algren.

"Algren, the Emperor wants to know that if you have fought against them in battle," she tells the Captain, with a slight bow, knowing that how… perplexed Omura was seen to be when the Emperor preferred to speak through a woman than he was. However, it was not Algren that answered, but it was Bagley, a man that the Emperor ignored completely. His answer was brushed off, in a dignified manner, of course, but was brushed off nonetheless. "Colonel Bagley, the Emperor thanks you for your opinion," she added softly, so as to not offend him, showing him what grace the Japanese court had for foreign dignitaries.

And so, the audience continued, to the extent where the Emperor asked Algren whether the American Indians painted their faces and wore eagle feathers to go to war. But as the meeting with the Emperor came to a close, it became clear that the matter fell on Miryu, and her current position. After Omura, Bagley and the rest of the advisors were told to leave; there was a silence so thick and pregnant that it left those who remained, particularly Algren and Miryu, breathless with anxiousness. "Captain Algren, Miryu has been a loyal warrior in my service for many years, and her results are unquestionable," the Emperor said to Algren through Graham. "She is a woman of great caliber and high breeding, but I fear for her. She cannot be caged like a bird in a bejeweled cage as I am, she must be free. That is why I have assigned her as your bodyguard that she may be free, and you, be safe from whatever threatens you…"

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Algren replied with a slight bow. So, the rumors were true, that Miryu really was close to the Emperor, but he did not know that her relationship with Meiji was so deep and rooted. However, he could sense that what they had between them were only on the terms of friendship and companionship. There was nothing more, and somehow, he felt rather… relieved. But which man could not resist a woman like her? Which man could look at that dazzling smile of hers, and not be enchanted? Which man could look into her sapphire eyes, and still remember that she was not the only woman in the world? He was sure that at any point of time, even Emperor Meiji was not free from her spell...

Miryu watched as the two men, one an American soldier, and the other, the Emperor of Japan talked to one another. She did not mind being the subject of their conversation at all, but the fact that the both of them were able to act so amicably around one another, it was a miracle. At that particular time, they were just two men talking to one another regarding her career prospects, and that she would continue to serve Japan by acting as the bodyguard to the man who would train the Imperial Army in Western warfare. She looked at them, and smiled. One was the Emperor, the other, a foreign soldier, and yet, they still could be so open and respectful of one another, acknowledging their differences.

Graham then cleared his throat and pulled her into a corner. "Look at them, my dear, how lucky you are to have them here!" he exclaimed, with a small nudge of his elbow. "Imagine that, a beautiful patriot with two men at her mercy… You can just say the word, and I am sure that both of them will fall off Mount Fuji for you!"


	11. Revelation

Another day in the training grounds of the Imperial Army, another day spent watching conscripts learning to be soldiers, and of course, another day spent with Miryu dutifully haunting his steps. Ever since the audience with the Emperor, she seemed all the more cheerful and jovial, but he could see the confusion in her eyes, the sad glimmer of sapphire that she tried so hard to hide from him with that enchanting mask that was her smile… What had caused this in her, he still could not decipher, but he trusted time would reveal it to him, when it deemed it right. For now, he was content that she was still speaking to him, and that they were still in the training grounds, and not facing the samurai right now.

As of now, he was walking the grounds with Miryu, Gant, Graham, Hasegawa and Gant's interpreter in tow (a young and pleasant Non-Comissioned Officer), overseeing the many regiments as they trained. "Ask Hasegawa what kind of man this Katsumoto is," he told Graham, who immediately translated the question. Ah, if only he knew more, Miryu thought to herself as General Hasegawa elaborated on Katsumoto's background. The rebel leader was the Emperor's teacher, a man great among the ranks of the Ishin-Ishishi, that was all common knowledge, but few knew that even in the early months of the Bakamatsu, her relationship with Katsumoto was one alike that of Kenshin and Katsura Kogoro's. In fact, he was the one who opened the door for her when she knocked on the Ohagi Inn's doors, asking for a boy her age known to her only as "Kenshin"… He was the one who told Katsura Kogoro of the obvious similarities in skill and strength she had with Kenshin, and convinced him to recruit her as a hitokiri as well… and to think that the man who showed her so much kindness would rise against the Emperor in another rebellion…

When Graham had translated Hasegawa's answer, Algren was astonished to know that Katsumoto was the Emperor's teacher and most trusted advisor… So why would he cause so much havoc? What good could be gained in all of it? "You must understand," Graham said to Algren with a cautious voice. He knew very well who were samurai and who were not in that very time and place, and it was a subject not to be taken lightly. "For centuries it was the samurai who guarded Japan and fought her wars, and with the creation of a modern army of conscripts, well, some accepted the change, some accepted money, and some couldn't bring themselves to do it, thus the rebellion."

"The samurai are proud in their ways, Captain," Miryu said, remembering now that he did not really understand her when she told him that she was a daughter of two great clans, which meant that he still did not know that she was as much a samurai as Katsumoto was. She was proud of her heritage, but she also knew that in this time and age, it would be highly dangerous to proclaim one's linage, particularly if one came from a samurai background. "They would not give up that easily…"

Algren nodded, and thanked her for her explanation. Still, there were many questions floating in his head. "Who supplies his weapons?" he asked once again, knowing that no one would be foolish enough to fight without the use of modern weaponry. It would be more than folly, it would be suicide. He knew from Miryu's tales that even nine years ago, guns shipped from all around the world were used by both sides of the Bakamatsu, so Katsumoto must have had some shipments of some sort of artillery…

However, Hasegawa's answer astounded him. "Katsumoto no longer dishonors himself by touching firearms," Graham translated. To those who honored the old ways, Katsumoto still remained a hero. A highly influential and charismatic leader, he relied on the old wisdoms of his ancestors to turn the tides of war, as they had always done. Granted, his distaste for firearms was already deeply planted since before he began to lead the Ishin-Ishishi. "He used them once, but he felt that it diminished the way of Bushido, the Way of the Warrior. It's very serious stuff, a code of behavior of sorts." And when asked by Algren once again, this time, whether how well does Hasegawa knows Katsumoto, he said, "Katsumoto and Hasegawa fought for the Emperor together with Miryu."

This time, his ocean-colored gaze fell both on Hasegawa and Miryu. Why would they fight with the Emperor with rebel savages? It could be that he did not have a good enough understanding about the samurai, but he still could not believe his own ears. "You fought with the samurai?" he asked Miryu, his voice filled with slight confusion and disbelief. Hasegawa gave her a knowing smirk, which she returned duly.

"We _are_ samurai," she said. Her answer was short, concise and straight to the point, the perfect answer to drive the truth into the American's head. Even in her childhood as an orphan under Hiko Seijurou XIII's wing, she was still raised as a samurai, to stand tall, to respect and be respected, to value peace and life, and more importantly, honor. Bushido had been a natural thing to her, just as natural as how birds take flight, and how fish frolic in the seas. Algren regarded them for a moment, and pondered.

How was it possible, that Tsubasa Miryu, who was so sophisticated, well-bred and learnt a woman, could be a samurai? And Hasegawa, this man demanded respect with the slightest fatherly nod he gives the troops… How was it that they were samurai, Algren asked himself. Perhaps there was more to learn about the enemies he was training the Imperial Army to face. There was definitely something that he did not know until now. He needed to learn their ways, how they fought and he needed to know it quick. In his mind, it was either that, or total defeat…

* * *

HAN: Hey, people! I have just realized something, a mistake that I have made that I deem to be quite serious. I have downloaded a version of a script of Last Samurai, which I have used as reference to the movie lines, and the movie itself differs a little bit from the script. So for the sake of continuity, I will continue using this script, and I will do my best to make sure I stay as closely to the movie as possible. And can anyone suggest a good moment for Kenshin to have either a small role or a cameo??

Thanks for reading!!


	12. Night

It was almost deep into the night when Miryu and Graham appeared before Algren in his quarters, with a whole cart-load of books and illustration regarding the samurai. Some of them, she had obtained from her own little personal library that she had amassed over the years, and others, were from Graham's collection. However, those with the most beautiful and dazzling prints came from her maternal grandfather, Reiyama Reiji (whom she had reconciled with not long after the Bakamatsu). Page, by page, Algren studied them, his eyes darting towards Miryu after every few moments. Yes, there was the occasional woman depicted in those prints, but there were even fewer depicting them bearing weapons as the men did. According to Graham, very few women of the samurai class could actually fight, but Miryu's maternal ancestors had always trained their daughters as they would their sons, their names all containing the word "Ryu".

"Very vexing people, the Samurai," the Englishman noted, "No offense to Miryu, of course… They're bloodthirsty, honorable, cruel, and fabulously artistic." He had seen the terrors of the Bakamatsu wars before, just as he had come to Japan at the climax of those dark days. Working as an interpreter for the British government and the Choushu-han, he had seen both hitokiri Battousai and Battouryu at work, and was very much horrified at their extreme precision and ultimately brutal ways of dispatching their enemies. "I've wanted to write a book about them for years, but they tend keep to themselves." Miryu just smiled, and poured the men more sake. Apparently, Gant and Algren did not know how potent it was, having downed their fifth cup, with the effects of the alcohol slowly creeping into their systems.

Gant leaned in closer to look at the prints, and found something very peculiar. Even in the most recent photographs depicting the samurai, few of them were seen without their armor. "Bastards still wear armor," he commented. He had never known any army that would still do such a thing. Surely, if they did not die of heat exhaustion from marching under all that weight, they would still die by the bullets their enemies would have used. It was something that the Irishman regarded as rather impractical, as well as, well, less technologically-advanced, which was a polite way to say that the samurai were rather primitive.

The very second after Gant had finished speaking, Graham fired back, "Yes, and when the Irish were still comporting themselves in loincloths, the samurai were already the most sophisticated warriors on earth…"

Before the two of them could get in a fight, Miryu put down the bottle of sake on a nearby table, and said, "Boys, break it up. We have enough in our hands as it is." She looked at Algren, and sat next to him, watching him in his deep contemplation. His eyes, they reminded her so much of the vast blue ocean, dark and tumultuous as a storm. "Captain, surely there is some information you wish to obtain from these books?" she asked Algren, waving her hand before his eyes to make sure he was still glued to reality.

Algren looked at her and regarded her for a moment, answering, "I want detailed accounts of their battle-tactics." Why was it just so damned hard to concentrate when she was less than twenty feet away from him? Maybe it was that little bell she had tied to her katana, or the glimmer of the silver embroidery of her kimono. Just what was it that caused his attention to stir whenever she was around?

"I have several books on it just waiting to be translated," Graham replied with a bow. At those words, Gant enthusiastically elaborated that the captain would have been able to speak in Japanese in no time, and that he should hear Algren blather on in Blackfoot. Raising an eyebrow to herself, Miryu wondered if this man really was a linguist. If so, he would have been more surprising than she thought he would be. Indeed, he was a man of many talents. "Really, a fellow linguist?" Graham asked, "Oh capital! Come on, sir, a word or two in the savage tongue…"

There was no mistake in the glance that Algren had given to Gant, for it was enough to shut the latter up almost immediately. As the moments passed, Graham continued to pester Algren about speaking in the languages and dialects of the Native Americans, which proved to be a large source of discomfort for Algren, something that he did not say, but had been visible to Miryu, who decided to slowly walk towards Graham and stop him from saying anything further. Even Gant, who was usually tactless and spoke without using his cognitive functions was able to judge how uncomfortable it was for the captain. "Early day tomorrow, Cap'n darlin'," he said, hoping that Graham would take a hint. "Time for bed, isn't it?"

"Simon, that is enough for the day," Miryu said, trying to coax Graham from going too far. No matter who a warrior was, he or she would have had times when they completely regretted what they had done, even for the greater good. From the way Algren was reacting to Graham's words, she had guessed that it was the same issue that Algren was going through. However, the Englishman was still too engrossed in his little fascinations. He went on as far as to expressing his curiosity about the technique of scalping, something which sounded foreign to Miryu's ears. What was it, she did not know, but she could see the change in Algren's eyes, and it was not for the better. She was about to try to usher Graham out of the room but Algren had beaten her in getting to him instead.

Those ocean-like eyes no longer contained the mystery of a calm storm, they held the sheer force of a hurricane, a change that was quiet, and subtle, something that only one like Miryu, who had fought so many, and watched so many, could ever know. "Imagine someone who hates you with the utmost intensity," Algren said, "Grabbing a handful of your hair while you are lying prostrate and helpless…" There was a dark terror in his words that Miryu could not comprehend. This… "Scalping", must have been something that Algren had seen countless times, something that must have come from his enemies for him to find so much pain in describing them. He stood up, holding the knife used to cut the fruits on a dessert-plate. At that moment, Miryu too, stood up, suddenly fearful for what Algren would do. Her job might have been to protect him, but Graham's death would mean that she would have to mourn the loss of another great friend, an outcome that she would rather not witness. "… and scraping the dull blade of a rusty knife on your scalp with a saw-like motion… and let your imagination grasp, Mr. Graham, the effect of a strong, quick jerk on the turf of your hair to release any clinging particles on your nervous system… then you'll have some ideas on how it feels to be scalped."

Miryu slowly took the knife from Algren's hand once he had finished speaking, and placed it carefully back on the dessert-plate, quickly noticing that he had already held her free hand. "Algren, are you alright?" she whispered, receiving a quick nod in return after he released her hand. Heaving a sign of relief, she poured herself a little more sake and sipped gently. "Try to get some sleep, Captain," she said, gazing into his eyes, which have returned somewhat to normalcy.

"How soon can you translate those books?" Algren asked Graham, placing his cup down.

"I shall not sleep until it is done," Graham answered with a small bow, almost tipping himself over as he rose from his chair. "Ah… sake…" he murmured with a slight flourish. The only person he knew that seemed almost inert to the effects of the Japanese rice-wine was definitely Miryu, who drank as much as they did, and still was sober. "I bid you goodnight," he said, and left with Gant and Miryu.

But just as they reached the door, Miryu stopped in her tracks. Something… was not right about Algren. She had never seen him so… tortured before. She knew that there was something wrong with him that night, and decided to see it for herself. "Boys, I think I shall stay with the captain tonight," she said, before closing the door shut at them, so as to avoid any of their questions. Taking her katana out of her obi, she sat on the couch opposite Algren's chair, and found him already in some sort of trance, his eyes, once again, filled with pain, and regret. She could see tears running down his handsome face as he reflected on memories past, and she knew that it was something that only he could come to terms with, something that only he could overcome.

Throughout the night, she watched him, sapphire eyes fixed upon him until sleep took her, and when morning came, she rose, and woke him up as well. It was a new day, and at least, hours and hours before what he had seen would haunt him once again.


	13. Conflict

He was tormented by what he saw in his sleep, tormented by what he saw even _before_ he slept. Miryu looked at Algren the next morning as he trained the soldiers to shoot with live ammunition and found that he was more than a little hungover, but said nothing. She could not catch a wink of sleep the previous night, not when she heard him scream in his sleep… She did not know what caused it all, what he had seen, or done, for that matter, but she knew that it would not be something that she was able to comprehend. However, when she woke him up that morning, he seemed to be perfectly normal, being just a little tipsy from the amount of sake he had drunk the night before.

"We should be grateful that they are shooting in a straight line," Algren commented after the first group of soldiers had fired their first shot. Miryu chuckled, and as always he would return a quiet smile of his own. Wanting to get some results fast, he knew that it all came down in instruction. Perhaps if the soldiers were given more instruction and reinforcement, they would be able to do better. So, he selected the youngest-looking soldier and said to him, through the NCO, "Now, son, butt of the rifle into the shoulder, cheek against the stock, eye down the sight…" The young soldier listened closely to his words, and did just that. "Then slowly… slowly… squeeze…"

As if a sudden miracle had occurred, the soldier actually hit the bull's eye, certainly something that no one had expected. Offering a pat to the young one's back, Algren turned to find Miryu looking away, in the direction on Bagley, and Omura. "Nathan…" the Colonel called towards Algren, who immediately walked forward, followed closely by Miryu as Gant took over the training. As much as the Captain hated his superior, he was his superior nonetheless. Taking Algren aside, while having a close eye on Miryu (who treated him with indifference as he did her), he said, "Katsumoto has attacked a railroad at the border of his province."

This piece of information had come to Miryu in the middle of the night. Saito Hajime had personally sent the message to her in the middle of the previous night, just after Algren had slept, informing her that his agents had confirmed that Katsumoto was already moving out to attack the mentioned railroad. In her heart, she had already made up her mind that she would only attack those who attacked Algren, as Katsumoto's men where men that she had fought side by side with, men that knew her and vice versa. They were men that she could not bring herself to kill, not in ten thousand years.

"We cannot govern a country in which we cannot travel freely," Omura added. His words were of some truth, but Algren did not know that it was this man's steadfast ideas of extreme Westernization that caused Katsumoto's rebellion in the first place. He had forgotten the ways of his people, their needs to reattach themselves to the spirituality of the samurai… It was this fervor in him that made Miryu somehow lost what former respect she had for him, for he had lost all trace of respect for what he had been, all in the name of wealth and greed. "He must be stopped!"

Bagley was somewhat miffed by Algren's hesitance. He always had been so. "The rebels don't have a single rifle," he said, grimacing at the sight of Miryu's katana. Had he already suspected that she was one of the samurai as well? "They are savages with bows and arrows…" Now, if they were in a different day and age, Miryu (and Hasegawa, if he was present at the time) were obligated to behead Bagley for his complete lack of respect towards the samurai. However, they were in an age where the light of the Western civilization was regarded as Japan's only saving grace, and the commanding officer of the man who was to train the Imperial Army was to respected more than the samurai… She merely raised an eyebrow and kept her silence.

Algren, however, did not agree. "… whose sole occupation for the last thousand years has been war." His words made Omura look towards Bagley, and later, at Miryu. Who was the Captain, and who was the Colonel. And more importantly, who was the bodyguard and the charge, in which the bodyguard was supposed to hold her silence? She may have been a proud daughter of great samurai clans, but this was the new age. She, of all people, should have learnt to embrace the new, and cast out the old.

"You have superior firepower and a larger force," Bagley continued. "I am ordering a regiment against Katsumoto. Are you prepared to obey this order?"

The Captain did not answer. He just turned towards the soldier who had shot a perfect bull's eyes and told him to load his rifle. Miryu remained silent and followed him, and was little than amazed when he walked towards the targets. "Tell this man to fire at me," Algren told Graham, gesturing at the boy, cocking his revolver. The boy was reluctant, shaking his head. He would never dare shoot a superior officer! Not in front of the Prime Minister, or the Colonel and General Hasegawa! "Tell him that if he does not shoot me, I will kill him with my third round!"

Graham hurriedly translated Algren's orders to the boy, who looked more frightened by the second, especially after Algren shot a round that barely missed his ear. "What are you playing at?" Miryu whispered to him, sapphire eyes demanding an answer from him. "The boy would rather die than do what is told of him,"

"You'll see…" Algren told her, before cocking the Colt in his hand once more, shooting now at the boy's body, missing intentionally once again. Ah, it was only then when Miryu saw through his intentions. If the soldier could shoot at Algren, now a hostile target, and it would prove that the army was ready to move against the rebels. And when the boy actually fired a round at Algren, he missed completely. Walking back towards Omura and Bagley, he said to them, "They're not ready," after reassuring the young soldier.

Bagley, still adamant in his decision, did not pay any heed to Algren's words. "The regiment leaves at six AM!" he bellowed.


	14. Opening Salvo

Miryu was on a horse as the regiment of the Imperial Army marched from Tokyo to where Katsumoto's forces supposedly were, and sighed internally. She had never been on a horse since before the Bakamatsu, and it had been Katsumoto that taught Kenshin and herself to ride… Now, she was riding into battle against him. Her steed, had been a gift by the Emperor, a beautiful white mare she had named Yuki, was suggested by Katsumoto during the days of His Imperial Majesty's (failed) courtship of her… Her bond with the now-rebel leader was one alike that of Kenshin's and Katsura Kogoro, with the two men being their secondary father-figures and mentors. "This is pointless," she muttered when Colonel Bagley was far from earshot. "This should never have happened…"

Graham looked at her sympathetically. "Now, now, my dear," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, thanking God that she was close enough for his short reach. "Sometimes we must let the hand of fate turn the tides for us…" The houses were leveled, the people, dismayed and fearful. It was no different that the days of the Bakamatsu. Miryu, even as a warrior, she did not wish to see these sights yet again. It was too painful for her to do so.

Algren would have said something to console her, but he found not the words to say to her. He just kept his eyes on her, and nodded when she turned to him, her expression grave and filled with pain. However, he had noticed a strange sign on almost everything in the village that had been razed to the ground. He looked at the water-tower, and the headbands of the guards. "It is Omura's symbol," Miryu said, "He has gained much wealth ever since the Ishin-Ishishi won the Bakamatsu…" her voice trailed, and her sapphire eyes were fixed upon a woman crying over her dead husband, killed not by sword-wounds, but probably from the crowds stepping over one another… Scenes like that were not foreign to her, and she deigned to see them again.

"Omura owns all of this?" Algren asked, looking around him, and at Graham, who answered that Omura would, after he had gotten rid of the samurai. Perhaps it was why Miryu had found such distaste for her former comrade, that he had accumulated so much wealth out of the expense of their other brothers. They rode out of the village, passing a burnt Buddhist temple, passing more injured and dead villagers before they came to the entrance of a deep mountain pass. From a distance, they could see the figures of several heads, but upon closer inspection, the heads turned out to be severed, impaled upon pikes.

Miryu was the first to break the silence. "Katsumoto does not want us here," she said, her voice but a fragile whisper. "These are the heads of Omura's men, I've seen them before." From there, they entered the deep forests, whereby a fog soon started to form, as if it were a sort of foreshadowing. Keeping her eyes fixed on Algren, she could not feel any Ki foreign to her, any Ki that reeked of malicious intent. She could also see the amber eyes of Saito amongst them, always the spy and the dutiful informant. What was his part in that conflict, she would not know, but Katsumoto and his men would surely try to kill him if they got the chance, being the one who killed so many Ishin patriots years ago…

Soon enough, Algren was already shouting out his orders, orders that were translated by the young NCO. Wheeling about with his horse, a handsome brown stallion, he relayed the best possible ways in his mind to meet the attacking samurai head on, hoping that this skirmish would not be the opening salvo to a larger conflict. However, Bagley had different ideas. He was there in Japan, with Algren in tow, to train the Japanese Army. Once they won the bloody battle, they had proven their credibility, and had nothing left to do with the yellow-skinned conscripts. "Captain Algren," he said to Algren, "We are not fighting here as combatants."

The Captain did a double-take. "Then who's going to lead these men?" he asked, demanding an answer. He was _not_ leaving these men to die here, not when they were unready to face the enemy. Graham and Miryu looked at the two men, and strangely, her sapphire eyes were in a strange shade, it was dark, but it the light in it, it was unlike what Graham had known it to contain. Her eyes, as seen by Algren and Bagley, they had suddenly turned almost feral, almost it a color alike that of gold and amber… Perhaps the tales that Graham had told them about, that the hitokiri had eyes of gold had been true? "We'll be there presently," Algren concluded, before turning to Miryu after Graham and Bagley went to the rear of the regiments. "Are you alright, Miryu?" he asked her.

"I am fine, Algren," she answered, forcing a smile. "The boys need you to lead them, Hasegawa has refused to fight against the man he came to regard as a brother." He knew very well that she was talking about Katsumoto. "Algren, my job here, is to protect you, and nothing more. And so long as you are unharmed, I cannot attack them as well." She knew that it could be hard on the soldiers to see her doing so, perhaps, Algren as well, but she did not care. She had killed too many, and she would not kill anyone who she had knew for so long, those that she had fought side by side with. Algren nodded, and moved in closer to kiss her forehead, surprising her as she did him in the palace.

"Now, we're even," he uttered, before turning his present attention to the soldiers. His attention was soon focused on Gant. "Seargant Gant, report to the rear and see to the disposition of the supply train," he said to his long-time pal. This was a battle he did not want to see Gant dead in, no matter what the stakes were against them. However, the Irishman ignored him completely. "Mr. Gant, did you hear my order?"

Gant just got his rifle ready, and answered duly. "I heard it," he said, but when Algren stressed the same words over again, he added, "Intending no disrespect sir, but shove it up your arse." Miryu chuckled, but her voice became drowned by the sounds of drums, beats that came out of nowhere. Looking behind her, she knew that almost all of the soldiers were literally shaking in fear. _Boys will be boys_, she thought, and rode to Algren's side.

"Samurai come…" the NCO muttered to Algren, his voice filled with terror. Were the samurai that fearsome, Algren did not know, but he knew that this battle would not be won easily, even if it could be won at all.

"You'll be fine, son," Algren replied, and looked at Miryu. Hopefully, he would be able to see the day where he could drink sake with her, and have her drunk before he did.


	15. Battle

It was utter chaos. The soldiers had panicked long before the samurai could reach them, and disregarded almost every order he had issued. "Hold the line!" Algren shouted repeatedly, and gave up. It was far too late to turn the tides of the battle, and he knew it. It would be a defeat. Even after the soldiers had managed to regain their composure, even after they had fired volley after volley at the samurai, there was almost no effect to the enemy. And as the samurai came closer and closer, the soldiers had panicked once again, and began to run for their lives. "Hold the line, damn it!" he shouted, but to no avail.

"It's no use!" Miryu shouted, cutting one of the spears that were aimed towards her with one graceful arc of her katana. The bell rang clearly, and immediately, several samurai stopped in their tracks. They recognized the sound of the bell, and bowed to her before returning to attack her. Whether or not she had fought with them in an age almost forgotten, they had to see her as an enemy; so long she was on the opposing side. Yet, when forced to enter melee combat, there was a strange change to her attacks. She had reversed the edge of her katana, fighting only with the blunt end… Did she really not wish to kill them, to get rid of them?

They leave her, and when a black-armored samurai spotted the gaijin leading the Imperial soldiers, he closed in upon him. By then, Miryu had already been too overwhelmed by incoming attackers to get to Algren in time, and no matter how hard she fought, there would always be more that came. From the corner of her eye, she spotted one in yellow armor, an archer of extreme precision, about to fire an arrow at her. Without a single moment of hesitance, she spun her katana's blade around and cut the arrow just seconds before it hit her, a feat that astounded the archer to no end. "Your skills have improved greatly, Nobutada," she said with almost a smile. "Had I been slower, you could have killed me with that arrow."

The yellow-clad samurai nodded, and turned around. There was no time to catch up with an old friend, for they were at the midst of a battle that would not be the last of what he will see. And with that, Miryu started to weave through the battlefield, seeking Algren in the midst of chaos and terror. She could see Gant, shooting down her once-comrades with his Winchester rifle, successfully killing the samurai who was about to side-blind Algren. However, he could not safe himself, for another samurai, in blood-red armor struck him down and impaled him with a spear.

"Zeb!" Algren shouted, but it was too late. Zebulon Gant was already dead. In desperation to survive, he retaliated. He did not care about his surroundings any loner, with the sheer will to cut down any attacking samurai that lied before his path. Even after he was stabbed in the shoulder by a lance, he still fought on, wielding the lance he had picked up from the ground, bearing the flag of a white tiger. His courageous attempt was watched by all those around him. The red-armored samurai unsheathed his katana, ready to kill him, but was instantly killed by the American Captain, who propelled the jagged end of the lance into his throat.

At that instant, every one of the samurai closed in on Algren, prepared to kill him. However, they were stopped by the sound of a ringing bell. It was Miryu, who had managed to leap to Algren's side, her katana unsheathed and her sapphire eyes gleaming with a fearsome light. "If one hair on his head is lost, I will take the lives of ten men in its place!" she proclaimed, already in the stance of battou-justsu, the beginning stance of many Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu attacks that stunned all that looked upon it. She did not wish to fight them, but nor could she allow them to bring about Algren's demise. If they were adamant on killing Algren, then she, as his bodyguard, would be responsible to ensure that his safety was procured, even if meant killing them.

The leader of the samurai stepped out and said, "Miryu, are you not supposed to be guarding the Emperor?" He was Katsumoto, a bald man, tall in stature, imposing in authority. He looked at her and found no longer the young idealistic girl fighting for freedom of the people of Japan from the tyranny of the Bakufu, but a woman, powerful and fearsome in her own right. In that time of age, women were still considered sub-par to men, but women of the samurai bearing the word "ryu' in their names were different. They were of high linage, and of high caliber, and were considered to be as great as the greatest male samurai. Miryu was one of them, and for a long time, he had known her…

"I was reassigned, Katsumoto-san," she replied with a deep bow. "I do not wish to fight you, or your men. All I ask is that you spare the American… He was no quarrel in your rebellion, a mere hired gaijin…" Her sapphire eyes, they were pleading for mercy on Algren's behalf. She had known this man, and she knew that he was compassionate, even as one's enemy.

For a moment, Katsumoto regarded Algren. Indeed, there was some purpose in this man's presence. In an earlier vision, he had seen a white tiger attacking his men in that very same forest, and not long after that, the tiger was protected by a blue dragon with bells tied to its claws. The tiger and dragon could very well be Algren and Miryu respectively, and with further contemplation, there was no doubt about it. "Tsubasa Miryu, you and your American are to come with me and my men to my son's village, where your fate will be decided."

Miryu bowed her head and relented. Not long after, her horse was brought to her, and she mounted it, with Algren in tow. "Captain, are you alright?" she asked, holding his hand as they passed by Katsumoto and General Hasegawa. Hasegawa was to commit seppuku, the ritual suicide to restore his honor after the shame of defeat. There were a few deep wounds all over his body, but there was nothing too serious. For some reason, even in his semi-unconscious state, he was still holding her hand even tighter, something that continued until he truly lost all consciousness, due to lethargy following the battle, and from the blood he had lost.


	16. Captive

"I know that there is more to this man in your heart than just a person the Emperor has tasked you to protect," Katsumoto said to Miryu, watching her as she tended to Algren as best she could. Already she had applied what available herbs to apply over his wounds, and now, she was feeding him some water from the nearby stream, Her sapphire eyes were shining with a slight light that Katsumoto had never seen before, despite the fact that she had tended to wounded men in battle before. The frown that threatened to mar her features was subtle and complex, one of worry, and one of meticulous care. He had never seen Miryu like that, the difference was stark.

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "He is just my charge," she replied, throwing a cloth into the bucket of water Katsumoto had given to her, wringing it before using it to wipe Algren's blood-crusted face, blood that she did not know was that of his own, or those whom he had killed. "I nursed your wounds too, Katsumoto-san. You were just unconscious at the time to savor the moment." There was a small smile at the corner of her mouth, which made the rebel leader grin as well. Taking a handful of water, she splashed it towards him and chuckled. She remembered that day well. Katsumoto had almost lost his life in a duel against both Saito and Okita, but she had managed to save him and while Taka was busy helping the other wounded, she had assumed his sister's job.

Katsumoto shook his head. She would always be smiling, always laughing. But he knew the pain that she concealed: The conflict within her, and her duty that she had taken up to protect those who needed her the most. There was only anger within her so many years ago, enough anger that could shake an entire nation. And yet, she survived the dark days, only to have her anger be replaced by a sense of duty, which was now being tested by him, the one who dared to openly claim that he understood her more than she did herself. His uprising has no doubt questioned everything that she had believed in, but to see her fight like she had just hours ago, he had seen a different side of her.

Once Algren was cleaned up, Miryu laid him to sleep on the grass, and sat beside him. "Emperor Meiji freed me from the courts, Katsumoto-san," she told her old friend. "He told me that he could see that this man could bring me happiness…" She knew how hard it was for her to come to terms that she would blush whenever Algren looked at her, how he made her heart race everytime he would secretly hold her hand. They were no longer love-struck teenagers, but in a time when the enemy had been bearing down upon them, it was all that they could afford.

"And do you think that the Emperor may be right?" Katsumoto asked, looking at the strange man before him. "Are you sure that you did not feel that way, just because of Emperor Meiji's words?" What he said struck a chord with her, and she knew that it could not be true. She had met him before her release from the courts, and the first gaze that they had shared as he was descending from the ship he came to Japan with, it was more intense than the heat of the Sun in ten lifetimes. She had never seen a man with eyes like his, and his voice… It called to her, like a gentle blanket. Everything about him was so mysterious to her, so strange, and yet, so welcome. Of course, being a female warrior meant that she was ever in the company of men, but Algren… Algren was totally different.

She shook her head, and said, "I have never felt this way before…" Yes, she had experience of men wooing her, and she had rejected even Meiji, of all people. She had turned down a good man, a life of riches and security, just because the eyes of this man told her that somehow, she would be loved… somehow, she had always known that she had wanted a man like Algren to sweep her off her feet, with quiet, yet dashing chivalry. In reality, he was no knight in shining armor, but a man, oftentimes half-drunk, plagued by the nightmares of his past. Unable to continue further, she just sat there under the stars, hoping that this time, Katsumoto would still be able to understand her…

* * *

The next morning brought a new day, and of course, a new challenge for Algren. When he had been awake, he was aware that he was being led into the mountains. He was also aware that Miryu had never left his side, and when he caught glimpses of her flawless face, it was constantly filled with worry. Her katana was not with her, for some reason, nor were his weapons, and the pack of books he had constantly took with him. "Where are we?" he murmured to her, finding her hand clasped around his. It was a welcome gesture, and he certainly relished it.

"We are nearing a village in the mountains," Miryu replied, noting all the people around them bowing and kneeling as the company rode past. Prisoner or no, she was still a samurai, and in that village, samurai were still people to be respected. Still, he was barely conscious, but the ability to speak in that state has given her a much needed reprieve. Who knew what damages his body had undergone without proper diagnose? Somehow, she was grateful that they were being brought to Nobutada's village.

And when the procession came to a complete stop, Algren was hauled off Miryu's horse sooner than she could protest. "What is your name?" Katsumoto demanded of him, preferring to know the name of his enemy from the person himself. Algren just stared blankly at him, refusing to utter a word. At that moment, Ujio, one of the samurai was enraged, and held his katana close to Algren's neck, forcing him to answer Katsumoto's question. For a man, injured and in Ujio's mercy, the American showed extraordinary courage and will to stare down that particular samurai, who happened to be Katsumoto's right-hand. Miryu kept her silence, knowing the severity of the matter. However, Ujio did not know that the ways of Algren's countrymen were different than their own, and she threw a glance at Katsumoto, who knew that there was no other way to stop Ujio from continuing further.

He told Ujio to leave him be, followed by these words, "This is my son's village. You cannot escape, for we are deep in the mountains and winter is coming." It was no surprise to Miryu that Katsumoto spoke in English. He had long been educated in that tongue, even before Miryu had Graham as a language teacher. She did not know when had he learnt it, but she knew that it was before the darkness of the Bakamatsu had stirred.

Seconds later, Miryu walked to Algren had tried to help him up, but was stopped by Ujio and a few other men. "I am his bodyguard, allow me to care for him until he is well in the house you have granted to me here," she reasoned, but was flatly rejected.

"He shall be cared for by my sister, Taka," Katsumoto replied, "You, on the other hand, are not to see him until I see fit."

Miryu's eyes widened at those words, but did not offer a response. Friend or no, she had fought against him and his men. She was sure that it was a precaution to be taken, in the case that she would conspire with Algren to take the village when they least expected it…


	17. Questions

"Tsubasa-san, I cannot open the door for you," Taka said to Miryu, the morning after the latter had arrived in the village with the American captive. There was a slight pain in the older woman's eyes, and Miryu needed not guess why. Algren had killed her husband, who she had loved dearly, and it was not easy for a woman forced to suffer being a widow so young to be ordered by her own brother to care for her husband's murderer. "My brother has strict orders…" Higen and Magojiro, her sons, seemed a little afraid at their mother's cold expression, but secretly wanted to a chance to play with her.

However, the tall woman was insistent. "I cannot abandon my duties in being his bodyguard, Taka-san, please, at least let me see him!" Miryu exclaimed. She could sense his Ki, weakened in comparison to its usual strength, naught but a dying ember, and she was worried. The previous night, she could hear his screams even from her own house, and she knew that he was having his nightmares once again. It was too painful an experience to watch him bear alone, but to be cut off from him, to hear his pained voice, and not see him, she could not bear to hear another syllable…

Taka, however, refused to relent. "The answer is no…" she murmured, before bowing to Miryu, and slamming the door shut. She could not believe that the girl who had fought next to her brother in the Ishin-Ishishi would even dare to try to protect the man who killed her husband. Miryu had been a woman of principle, a woman of honor! Surely, she would not have allowed the American to do the deed! Deeply angered, and saddened, she just could not bear to see the sapphire-eyed woman any longer. Taka knew, that she had everything that Miryu had not, a loving family, a privileged life, a peaceful life, but in her heart, she despised the young woman for one reason, and one reason only: Miryu had freedom. Miryu could fight alongside the men, and not be looked down upon. She could even turn down the Emperor, and she could choose her own destiny. She… she could not. All her life, she was taught to serve, to respect, to defend herself when the need arose, but she could never be free, not like Miryu…

"Taka-san… Taka-san!" Miryu shouted, hammering slightly at the door, but to no avail. Deciding to try again the next day, she bowed, and went on her way.

* * *

What Algren saw, was pure nothingness. After he had arrived in the village, he was taken away into a house, and had his wounds tended by a beautiful woman. Yes, the woman was indeed easy to withhold, but she was not like Miryu. Those ebony eyes, they did not have her fire, they could not hold the sheer spirit that she had, but he could see that they were filled with pain. Who was she, he did not know, but he knew that Miryu was near him… He could sense her, somehow.

There were moments where he knew everything going about him, the two boys in the house, playing around, having their meals, but there were also times were darkness took him, and he slept, plagued by his nightmares time and again. And in between those moments, he could hear Miryu's voice. She was speaking to the woman who had tended to him, in words that he could not understand. But every time he heard her voice, it would be pleading, sometimes even begging… He could not hear her laughter, nor the light chuckles that was always constantly with her, when he was with her. What changed her? Was it all his fault, for getting so recklessly hurt?

Hours became days, and days, became more in number. Enclosed in a dark room, bereft of human company and alcohol, tormented by his own mind, he was forced to endure the withdrawal of alcohol all by himself. Often, he would howl for Sake, but none gave him heed. So, he slept, and tried to do so, in the least. And after the seventh day of his arrival, he woke with the light of the sun in his face, and rose, for the first time. Exiting the house, he found his boots in the front porch, and put them on, where he found an aged man, seemingly waiting for him.

He took a walk around the village, but could not find Miryu anywhere… Somehow, he had realized how much he yearned to see her sapphire eyes, how much he wanted to hear her laugh once again. Was that too much to ask? Everywhere he went, the old samurai followed him, not speaking a word, despite every single attempt to strike a conversation. And after several days, when he was out on another walk, the old man led him to a temple, to a shrine, where a looming statue of the Buddha resided. It was there, where he saw Katsumoto once again.

"This temple was built by my ancestors a thousand years ago," the bald samurai said with great pride, meeting Algren's eyes. "My name is Katsumoto, what is yours?" There was a pregnant silence, a perfect pause. "Are my words not correct?" On the contrary, Algren understood him perfectly; it was just that the American did not wish to speak with the man perceived to be his enemy. "I will practice my English with you…"

At those words, Algren turned to Katsumoto and asked, "You will?" The other man's answer was short and simple: If Algren would honor him. Many words were then exchanged, from why he was kept alive, to why Katsumoto had been proud to cut off General Hasegawa's head. In hindsight, Katsumoto's words were right: The Japanese ways were strange to him, just as his were strange to them. It took him quite a lot of thought, of contemplation, until he finally said, "Nathan Algren, my name is Nathan Algren." Katsumoto bowed, and merely replied that he was honored to meet him, and to have their conversation in English. However, that was not enough for him… He had questions, questions that needed answers.

"Questions come later," Katsumoto rebuked, trying to brush the American off for the day, but it seemed that the man was relentless. _It is no wonder why Miryu has taken a liking to him,_ he thought silently.

"Who was the warrior in red armor?"

"My brother in law," Katsumoto answered, "His name is Hirotaro."

"… and the woman who cares for me?"

"Taka, my sister, is Hirotaro's wife…" Ah, that answer caused a stir in the gaijin, no doubt. To learn that he had killed the husband of his benefactress, it would be a torturing strain of knowledge. Katsumoto could not help but to sigh at his sister's loss, but nonetheless, it was a good death, as he told Algren seconds after his realization.

And there was one final question, one that Katsumoto knew would have reached his mind sooner or later. "Where is Tsubasa Miryu?" Algren asked, the anger in his eyes diminished, filled with a small sliver of hope. "I… wish to see her again."

"She is your bodyguard, and I shall not part her from you," Katsumoto replied, "Look for her in the house behind Taka's, she would be waiting for you there…"


	18. Reunion

It did not take Algren long to find Miryu's house, but when he had called for her, she did not answer. Instead, he decided to go through the back door, and give her a surprise, finding more than what he had bargained for. Right there in the courtyard, was the female warrior, dressed like the men in the village, practicing with her katana. Engrossed in her training, she did not hear him enter, nor did she feel his presence, focused only in her task, in the unseen enemies that she had set herself to fight.

The style she had employed was unlike what Algren had ever seen before. The speed in which her attacks were executed, they were fluid, almost serpentine… He could see that there was one very crucial trait in all of them: each single attack consisted of a maneuver so fast that only trained eyes could detect, followed by a sharp strike. Whether the assault was aerial, or targeted for hand-to-hand combat, it would always be the same. Once her katana was unsheathed from its tsuba, the actual attack would not be far behind. As the seconds passed, he found the light within her sapphire eyes burn brighter than the sun, and immediately knew that this was where her heart felt the most peace, by absorbing herself to her training… There was literally no wonder as to how she had garnered such renown as one of Japan's greatest warriors, after what he had seen.

Miryu had no notice of him, not until she turned towards the back gate, and found him standing there, dressed in his uniform, free of his wounds. "Algren…" she murmured his name, and he swore, by the name of all things holy, it had been the most heavenly sound he had ever heard. For the longest time, she stood there and did nothing, just staring into his ocean-hued eyes, until he slowly walked towards her and enveloped her in his arms, something that he had yearned to do in a long, long while. "For the longest time, I feared that I could not see you again," she whispered into his shoulder, unknowingly allowing him to hold her tighter. Although she knew that Katsumoto would never allow his death, but she also knew that if he had forbid him to see her, there would be no way around it, as they were in his territory, where his word was law.

Placing a finger onto her lips, he hushed her, and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her eyes. Why did she have to look so beautiful, so irresistible? Her sapphire eyes, they seemed overjoyed to see him, and that was all he needed to know at the moment. "It's good to see you again, too," he replied with a grin that she rarely seen from him, lighting up his already strikingly handsome features. "I missed you, Miryu." Only God knew that he spoke the truth, and there was nothing he could want more than to hear her laughter once again… Her body, it felt as if she had been made to be held in his arms, and he could feel every single curve of that lithe form against him, bringing him a taste of what awaited him in heaven.

But anything that started always had an end. Suddenly noticing that they were not alone, she pulled away and maintained a respectable distance from him. It was Nobutada, Katsumoto's son. "Miryu-san, my aunt sent me to invite you for dinner," he said, "Higen and Magojiro are literally begging for your company."

With a light chuckle, Miryu replied, "Oh really, what do those little rascals want now?" Casting her gaze at Algren, she motioned for him to follow them, having no intention to leave him out of her sight again. "Nobutada, your aunt is a strong woman…" she said to the young man, whose youth was equal to hers. "No woman could have withstood the pain of losing a husband so young, and to care for the man who killed him…" She knew that at that point, Algren had not acquired enough knowledge of the Japanese language to understand her words, and she was afraid that he would know that Taka was the wife of the man he had killed just before they were taken hostage, but the very moment Nobutada told her otherwise, she kept her silence.

When they had entered Taka's house, Algren made to turn away, knowing that he was the one who had caused Taka so much pain, but Nobutada was insistent, leading him into the dining-room, where food had already been served, and where the young widow had treated him with extreme politeness. He could see easily how pained she was, how much anger she must have felt. After all the formalities had been gone through, she would not look at him for the slightest while, even if she remained civil with Miryu.

"Taka-san, thank you for this lovely meal," Miryu smiled, once she was done, adding a slight bow to her words of thanks. The older woman returned the gesture, and continued to eat. She could see the guilt in Algren's eyes, and the animosity in Taka's. If she were a fortune-teller, she would have interpreted them as two beings who opposed one another by will of Fate, and nothing more. She knew that there was nothing she could do to remedy the situation between them, but she also knew that it would not do Taka well to draw on enmity for so long.

"He is vile," Taka whispered to Nobutada and Miryu, who cared not to translate for Algren. "He smells like the pigs… please, make him take a bath…" To some extent, the younger ones agreed with her, and turning the conversation into English, for Algren's benefit, they told him that they were going to bring him to a very special bath in the outskirts of the village, where the water was not only good for his wounds, but to cleanse his soul as well.

Miryu smiled at his ready acceptance, and whispered to him, "You are in for the experience of a lifetime, dear Captain," after making sure that there was no one to overhear them. That night, the American could have sworn that he could be the luckiest man in the world, without knowing the true meaning behind her words.


	19. Recreation

If Nathan Algren had thought that he was really going to have a bath with Miryu and only Miryu, he could not be more wrong in several lifetimes. "This is a rotenburo," Miryu said to him, watching him get into the water with Nobutada and the silent samurai that Katsumoto had assigned to the American for some unforeseen reason. "It is a mineral spring, and does wonders for the body," The look of annoyance on his face was pure gold, and she hoped that the moment would not end.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Nobutada asked Algren and Miryu, a question that she readily translated. Reluctantly, Algren nodded. God, it was not what he had in mind. Was it a test to his patience, or was it a sign that he was not to touch her, in the name of her honor? She just laughed, with a broad piece of cloth wrapped around her body to cover her modesty. What was more, she was seated quite far away from him, right next to the silent samurai, her sapphire eyes glowing with a sense of mischief. There was no doubt that as an unmarried woman, the silent samurai was acting as her chaperone as well. "It's good for the shoulder, too"

With one quick look at his shoulder, Algren found that it was almost recovered. Chuckling, Miryu threw a wash cloth to him for him to clean his shoulder-wound. Not long after they came into the rotenburo, an old woman stepped in as well, much to Algren's shock. It was enough that he had to share a bath with two men, but a toothless grandmother as well? How hard was it for him to get a little privacy with Miryu?

"Good morning, granny," Miryu said graciously with a bow to the elderly woman, Putting a subtle show of the curves of her body. "How is your son, granny, I heard from Nobutada that he has found a young, pretty wife?"

The grandmother smiled, and said, "Miryu-chan, thank you for caring so much about my son," She had a toothless smile. Her son had been one of Miryu's comrades in the Choushu faction, and she had known him for a time. "I shall tell you when he has a fat, white son, shall I?" She nodded and chuckled, looking at Algren. It did not take long for her to notice Algren, and she asked Miryu, "Is that your husband, Miryu-chan? I didn't know that you prefer gaijin…"

Miryu blushed immediately and said, "Granny, I am not married yet," before sinking lower into the bath, leaving Algren to only guess what words they had exchanged. Looking at Nobutada, who tried hard to stifle an incontrollable bout of laughter… "Look here, Nobutada, if you there reveal this to anyone, including Algren, I would be extremely sorry to report to your esteemed father that he would have no possibility in becoming a grandfather!" she threatened before motioning to leave the rotenburo with a smile towards the others.

Of course, Nobutada kept his silence after her threat of castrating him, and said nothing. "What did she say?" Algren asked, although he knew that Nobutada hardly spoke any English. It was still better than asking his samurai shadow.

"She said that she would be going to train again," the youth replied.

* * *

No one had ever expected that it would rain that day, but Higen, Taka's son was still practicing with his friend. Miryu was nowhere to be found, and Algren suddenly found himself approaching the boys. "They may be young, but they are strong," Nobutada said, although Algren had not a clue about what he had just said. Higen looked deadly serious, and was able to deftly knock the wooden weapon out of his friend's hands with a little smug smirk on his face. There was no doubt that the child would be a great warrior in the future. The wooden sword landed at Algren's feet, and they stopped sparring. As a gesture of politeness, he picked the weapon up and gave it to the boy, who refused with a shake of his head.

Higen looked at the American, evidently ready to attack him. He did not wish to fight a child, but Nobutada continued to egg him on. Reluctantly, he agreed, and began to exchange blows with the boy. He could feel the anger within the child, his attacks fueled with rage. Perhaps it was what this child had felt towards him, for killing his father. They would have continued if Ujio had not intervened. Algren recognized him, he was man who barked at him the very first moment he had come to the village.

Miryu also emerged from her house, and she looked on, with an umbrella in hand. "Put down the sword," Ujio shouted, but Algren did not act as ordered to. For some reason, she saw that the American did not budge, wanting a chance to face him using the sword. It was not a wise move, but she knew that it was an experience that he needed. She knew that Taka was there as well, and she knew that there was a slight satisfaction in her eyes to see Algren being beaten up by Ujio. She wanted to stop it, but she knew that both men and Taka would not forgive her if she had intervened.

Algren himself knew that he was no match for Ujio. He was not familiar with the sword-arts of Japan, nor did he contain that calm rage that almost every samurai had in their hearts. What he had, was like a sort of empty rage, much like that of Higen's, and that he had no way to channel it. The crowd watching him and Ujio grew in number, and Miryu looked at him with more than just pity in her eyes. This man was determined, a warrior who had nothing to lose, so he fought with everything he had, although he knew that he was at a high disadvantage. The more she knew about him, the more intrigued of him she was.

"Come, Captain, let's get you cleaned," Miryu whispered, getting him on his feet after Ujio left. He spent that night in her house, but he had slept opposite of her, divided by a screen made of bamboo that hung from the ceiling. She had played a flute before she slept, and for the first time in countless nights, he slept soundly, undisturbed by his nightmares.


	20. Awakening

"Algren, it is time to rise," Miryu said, softly to the American in the morning, her fingers gently touching his face. Her voice, it was sweeter than honey, and her touch, like the softest silk. Her sapphire eyes were glowing as she met his half-lidded eyes, and he wanted to draw her into her arms and just have here then and there… However, that would not be proprietary, and most likely, the villagers would have his head for disregarding her honor so easily… "You have a huge day ahead of you, Captain."

Wanting to tease her a little more, Algren covered his head over the blanket and groaned, "Does a hostage have a full schedule?" She chuckled, and pulled the blanket from him with a sharp tug before folding it and moving it into the corner. "I'll take it as a yes, then?" She just chuckled, and got her katana from its stand. She looked at him and shook her head, as he was still on his futon, trying to get some extra sleep before she does anything drastic like pouring ice-cold water on him.

She knew that he was expecting something from her, and decided to ignore him. "Fine, if you will not rise, I won't make you," she said, scuttling out of the room with naught but the flutter of her kimono as she walked out. Once she was outside, she smiled at the silent samurai and greeted him with a smile. He would have to rise sooner or later, and rise he did. After he had refreshed himself with the basin of water he had been sure was meant for him, he saw her practicing in the courtyard once again, and this time, he decided to try to sneak up to her, to see if he was indeed fated to keep a respectable distance from her at all times.

And for some heaven-blessed reason, she remained stationary for quite some time, and held her katana straight before her, as if contemplating a new technique, or a new direction for her practice. So, he crept behind her, and placed an arm around her waist. "Good morning," he whispered into her ear, hoping to be greeted in the same regard, but even he, the great strategist, did not expect what was to come seconds later. With one swift and quick motion, Miryu grabbed his hand and flipped him over her shoulder with full force, crashing him down onto the ground with what strength she had within her. It was a rather… painful experience, but at least, he managed to get close to her. "I feel the same way too…"

"Algren!" Miryu exclaimed, quickly releasing his hand and dropping to his side. "Are you hurt, Captain? Forgive me… I was too engrossed in my thoughts…" There was sheer worry written clearly on her face, and she quickly tried to get him onto his feet, but to no avail. Not only did he make no effort to rise, but he quickly rolled over, pinning her beneath him.

He smirked. This would be a chance that he would regret to pass over, and he knew it. "Thoughts… about what?" he asked, drinking the sight of her, dark hair sprawled across the ground, a slight flush in her cheeks, sapphire eyes filled with fire. Surely, there was no woman that could compare to her beauty? But who ever said that it was her extraordinary appearance that drew her to him in the first place?

With a small pout, she flipped him over, getting above him and replied, "Thoughts that you should not bother with, Captain," She wanted to tell him that she had been thinking about him, about how he had made her somewhat simple life so complicated. She was the average rehabilitated Ishin-Ishishi patriot, given a new life when the new age of peace came. And ever since she was tasked to protect him, everything she had come to understand had been challenged. Her ideals and the goals that she had thought to be accomplished were all shaken because of the conflict that the American Captain surrounded himself in. It was not fair! But if he had not come, Katsumoto would still have staged his rebellion, and Omura would certainly find another warrior from some other Western country. She knew it. But could she have been so deeply… attracted to that other warrior, as she was to the man who was kept beneath her?

The answer was a direct "No". She had met plenty of gaijin in her life, but not one as Algren was. He had intrigued her, a warrior who had seen what she had seen, a warrior plagued by his own past. And somehow, deep down inside, she wanted to help him rid himself of his suffering. She had wanted to help him find the peace that he had always sought, and failed to find. The strangest thing was, he seemed to return her sentiments. But she knew that they could not be together, not when he was a gaijin and she, a ward of the Emperor. It would only be a matter of time before they were separated, by either death, or distance, if they sank deeper into the conflict before them.

"Really?" Algren asked in return, his large hand now behind her head. His eyes were focused on her lips, pink like the softest of dawns, neither too thin nor too full. Slowly, he closed the distance between their faces, inching closer to hers, while leading hers close to his with his hand. She did not protest, and he took it as a sign that signaled her consent. Their lips had just barely touched, and soon, they were taken by a strange hunger, tasting one another with a series of passionate, fiery kisses that made them shudder.

Miryu was sure that she was in heaven… So, this was how Captain Nathan Algren tasted like, of alcohol and something sweeter, something particularly him. He was swift, and hungry, but also quite tender, making sure that in his need to sate himself of her, he did not allow himself to force her to do what she was loath to do. And Gods, did she want more… However, it all had to stop, and before she could allow herself to give in completely to him, she pulled away, apologizing softly. She just could not go on… she was so afraid, afraid that he would leave her, in one way or the other. In her mind, it would be better that they kept their relationship professional, or platonic, if they could, so that her heart would not need to feel the pain when reality struck them when they least expected it.

At the very notice of her not wanting to continue, Algren cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry, Miryu. I shouldn't have forced you like that." How selfish he was, to do such a thing without the slightest consultation of her feelings? Even if he got what he had wanted, he had no right to do so in the first place! However, he knew that she had wanted it to happen too, but still, he should have not been so rash… It would be his fault and his alone if she had felt anything against what he had done, and if she wanted some distance between them after this, he would be all too happy to give her that.

Miryu did not answer, but she got off him and held his hand to help him up. They began to walk out of her house, with the aged warrior following them once they emerged from the back gate. And strangely, her hand never left his as they walked towards the shrine where he had first talked to Katsumoto. "Katsumoto would see you now," she said to him, with a slight bow before she left. "And Algren… you need not apologize, for if any fault existed, it would be _ours_ and _ours_ alone…"


	21. Love

"Ujio is teaching you the way of the Japanese sword," Katsumoto told Algren simply the moment after they had exchanged their greetings. He had come to know of how his right-hand had beaten him in an informal match between them, even though the man did harbor a slight distaste towards the American, and took it out on him then. It was an opportunity for him to learn of their ways as well, and perhaps, he would be able to see from a new light as well. "Miryu would be more willing to assist, as well."

At the very mention of Miryu's name, Algren took a slight gulp. What he had did just a few moments ago was unforgivable, and yet she had said that it was not his fault… Deciding to let the matter rest, he pondered on Katsumoto's words and replied, "Is that what he was doing?" If being beaten over and over could make one a master swordsman, than he would have been the greatest warrior a long, long time ago.

Katsumoto just shook his head. There would be much more that the American would have to learn, he reasoned, and the same went for him regarding his strange guest. "You fought against your red Indians?" he asked, remembering his mention of them in the books that he had written, the books that he had taken from him just after Algren was taken hostage. He had written about his regret, the carnage he had seen and much more, and he wanted to know why. Did he not carry out his duty; did he not carry himself with honor?

* * *

It was not their first "conversation", and it would certainly be their last. Whenever the two men met, they would learn a great deal about one another, and likewise, they have come to acknowledge that they had much in common, and much to share. The tales they had exchanged, the lives that they had took, and the great warriors they had known…

More importantly, Miryu was closer to him than she ever was. She told him much about the Samurai way, and from her, he found how to find joy and peace in the smallest of pleasures. Just looking at her was an exact testament to that. Every morning, she would rise and train in the quiet of dawn, and in the afternoon, she would be around the village, helping as she could. No, she could not cook, nor could she sew, but she loved to teach children to read and write, and she loved to play with them. With Ujio, she would teach him and several children in the art of kenjutsu in the mild autumn afternoons, and in the evenings, she would take walks with him. At night, they would all dine in Taka's house, and sometimes, he would be a guest in her house… In her days with him, she had told him that even one whose soul was as bloodstained as his could redeem themselves, by noticing the error of their ways, and by diverting their energies into something totally different. It would be hard at first, but the rewards were great.

At first, he did not know what she had been talking about, but he knew all too well that it was there, in the quiet village in the mountains, was where he had first had untroubled sleep in many, many years. And it was all because of those around him, and Miryu…

Days of calm and peace soon became weeks, and fall died, bringing winter in. By then, Algren had developed enough of the Japanese vocabulary to communicate with almost everyone. He was particularly close with Higen and Magojiro, followed by the other children other than Miryu and Nobutada. There was even once when Algren decided to teach the children in the village to play baseball, but he failed outright, much to Miryu's laughter, and that of the mother-folk's.

To say that he was not fascinated by the villagers was a lie. They were many contradictions, as Graham had once said, and they were much more. And at the center of it all, was Miryu. The samurai, like all Oriental cultures were biased against their women, but he came to learn that women born of her linage, through a maternal line, were trained and raised as if they were sons. Her mother, Ryumiko, and her distant cousin, Nagasaki Hiryuko, a Satsuma patriot, were shining examples of this. Miryu seemed to embody everything that a Samurai was: artistic, literate, bloodthirsty, somber and honor-bound. Her understanding of protocol and tradition and her knowledge of Western ideas have made her an enigma, and he came to understand her better…

One evening, as the snow had slowly began to fall, she came into Taka's house just as Higen and Magojiro were teaching Algren words relating to "fire"' in Japanese. After their lesson, their mother smiled at them and said, "Miryu Onee-chan needs to talk to Algren-san in private." She did not look at the American, and he said nothing. With a polite bow, he exited the house, and took Miryu's arm in his. He knew that it was her way, but he wanted to ensure that he had acted as a proper gentleman in his own terms.

The sight around them was breathtaking; it was as if the world had been consumed by a sheet of white. Their footsteps upon the crisp snow was partnered by the light tinkling of the bell on her katana, as if it were a symphony made only for their ears. For a long time, they walked aimlessly, smiling at one another, knowing that they would stop once they were far enough away from the rest of the village. That was when Miryu broke the silence, saying, "Winter in this village has always been beautiful."

She remembered protecting this blessed ancestral haven during the Bakamatsu, she remembered the darkness of those days in Kyoto, of blood washing the streets every night, and she remembered coming here, and finding a little solace for her tortured soul. No doubt, Algren was experiencing what she had years ago, in this sacred place, she could see it in his eyes. There was a strange calm around him that she had not known, and somehow, it soothed her. It soothed her to see that he was no longer torturing himself, constantly drowning in whatever alcohol he had to bring himself to sleep, it soothed her that she no longer heard his cries of anguish every night, haunted by his nightmares… She looked at him, and found a smile hanging on his lips, something that was rare, until they came here. "What, was it something I said?" she asked him, chuckling at something she did not know about, just entranced into following his gaze.

Algren shook his head. "It's nothing, Miryu," he answered, fingers tentatively touching her jaw. She was so beautiful, flawlessly so. Dressed in a simple kimono, her katana by her side, she was different than any other woman. Yes, he could not deny that Taka was beautiful and strong as well, but they were completely two different women. She was a warrior, just as he was, and she had seen all that he had. And so far, it was she that could calm him, all of him, ending the persistence of his nightmares, just by being by his side, and just by sharing her own experiences with him. She had given him more than just a reason to smile, she had given him peace, mystifying his mind from the first moment they had met. "You're just so… breathtaking," he murmured, gazing into her sapphire eyes, drowning in the spark that they had held.

Miryu blushed, and tried to look away. "Algren, stop…" she said, knowing that she would not be able to resist him any further. As much as she wanted her relationship with him to go closer, she just could not bring herself to trust that they could be together forever. He was an American, and when all the conflict had ended, he would have to return to his country, and she would have to remain in Japan, as a ward of the Emperor, and as a student of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu. She was afraid, afraid that one day, they would have to leave one another. She could not withstand a heartbreak as deep as this, no matter what Katsumoto had told her, no matter that it was she who carved a new age out of bloodshed and survived.

"Don't be afraid of me," he whispered, tilting her chin upwards. Her lips, they were so dangerously close to his, and in the mere seconds, he kissed her. It was more than the peck on the cheek she had given him before his audience with the Emperor, more than their most intense gazes. It hit him harder than the impact of Ujio's bokken, stronger than the swift blow she had dealt to him in his quest to learn the art of kenjutsu. Who knew that Tsubasa Miryu, the warrior with the iron-clad soul, could so easily melt into his arms, respond to his kiss and bare her very soul to him? Their kiss had been short, he knew it, but the fire, that spark that she always had, could easily be found in it, and he knew that she welcomed it. Somehow, he knew that Miryu did not fear him, but her prospects with him, and he did not blame her. He could never blame her.

She let him hold her tighter, and felt a tear fall from her own eyes. "Don't…" she managed to say, although her body acted otherwise, yearning for his comfort, yearning for his warmth. It was as if a dream came true, to have a man who loved her hold her in a majestically beautiful setting of a quiet village blanketed by snow… She relented, knowing that the American would just break any wall she set against him, knowing that she could not deny her own heart any longer. To have herself in his arms, it was as if a piece of her soul had been returned to her, a piece of her soul that she did not know was lost at the beginning. He had given her more than just freedom from the Imperial Courts; he had given a reason for her to open her heart, and to feel, for the first time, as genuinely as she had towards him. Yes, it had been pure attraction to start with, but through the short weeks they had known one another, it had blossomed into something more.

Algren grasped a lock of her tightly, and whispered, "I love you, Miryu." They were words that made her heart flutter over and over again, and she looked at the man who held so much turmoil, finding a changed man. The man, tortured by his own past, embittered and broken by what he had done, had been gone. And in his place, stood this man, full of honor, courage and gentleness that she knew laid dormant within himself for a long, long time. "You gave me peace that I could not find by myself…" Yes, through her laughter, and just by staying with him in the night, she had driven his nightmares far, far into the abyss.

"And I you, because you complete me," she replied before he inched closer for yet another kiss. That was the kiss that sealed their fates, and it was this kiss that made them forget who they were, what they were supposed to do and be. At that time, there was no Nathan Algren, the American soldier tasked to train the Japanese Imperial Army, who was captured by rebels, neither was there Tsubasa Miryu, the hitokiri who became a bodyguard of the men who would shape Japan in the new age. They were just a man and a woman; a man and woman who had found love, in a little quiet village in the mountains. It was only then she realized, that it was exactly why she had turned the Emperor down… to have a love like the one which she shared with Algren, based upon understanding and trust, and not one of allegiance and duty to a man of higher authority. With him, she was his equal, and not an object to be gained, and protected.

For Algren, he was happy. For he had finally found the peace he had been seeking all along, and he found it in her.

* * *

HAN: Ah, the moment that you all have been waiting for. I modified the "preview" part to fit more into the story, and I hope that you enjoy it. And I apologize for the shortening of the scenes in which Algren tries to fit in with the other people in the village, it would not only drag the plot longer than it should be, but it would be too tedious to write, haha, so forgive my loneliness. All the serious stuff will come after this, and expect a cameo from Kenshin! Bye for now!

* * *


	22. Improvement

Miryu was watching Algren spar with Ujio with Nobutada and Katsumoto's men, who were betting on the proceedings. "Your man seems to know his stuff, Miryu-chan," said Nakao, a giant of a man whose specialty was jujitsu. He was getting better and better at it, and he was beginning to be able to catch up with both Ujio and herself as they sparred. "Seems like I will be betting on him today…"

At his words, Miryu just chuckled. "Are you sure, Nakao-san? Your wife would not forgive you if you bet all her grocery expenses," she replied. She was sure of Algren's skill, and for a beginner in the art of kenjutsu, his progress was extraordinary, but it was still not enough to best Ujio, who had spent a lifetime perfecting his craft.

The man he was betting with laughed as well. "See, Miryu-chan knows where the odds are, my friend," he said, "Ujio will win in five moves." He knew his comrade well, and it was evident that he would win in a small number of attacks. Five would suffice, he guessed, and hopefully, he was right. Miryu could only shake her head, and watch.

Algren had put Nobutada's advice into his mind. "No mind," he repeated in his head, trying to ignore the fact that Miryu was right there watching him. It was a hard thing to do, but heck, he needed all the concentration he could muster to actually beat Ujio, or in his case, avoid being beaten up again. He could hear Nakao proclaiming that Ujio would beat him in six moves, and he swore to God that he hoped that it could actually happen.

The slight breeze had been a mark for them to start exchanging blows, and for once, Algren not only managed to keep on his feet, but he also managed to give Ujio a harder time in facing him. And for some reason, the American was still defeated by the stern man. Sure, he lost that set, but it would be evident that he had hope that he would win the next one, for sure.

In the corner of Miryu's eyes, she had discovered another talent of Algren's. He could learn new things on his feet, and like swordsmen of the greatest caliber, he could analyze every single attack before they struck him. The more he was used to kenjutsu, the more this talent was evident to her. It was this new approach on facing new experiences head-on that enabled his survival; that enabled his rapid learning of new languages. Indeed, this man was full of surprises. His attacks were only fueled by frustration and anger, in the next following sets, but she could see that he was able to learn from his mistakes. After the fifth or sixth sets, she sensed a growing calm from every single maneuver, and that he was aware of everything around him.

Nathan Algren had never felt so calm before in his life. He was able to feel, to see, to touch, to hear and to taste in striking range. The scent of the thawing grass, the sounds of the swordsmiths forging weapons for the warriors, the early bird already singing in the trees… He had never felt so alive, and inhaling a deep breath, he started to attack Ujio once again. Parrying, striking, and hacking, both men participated in a duel of the minds, and of the sword. The outcome was staggering, and it had been evident the moment both men held their bokken at each other's necks.

"A draw!" the man Nakao was betting with exclaimed, much to Miryu's elation and pride. Maybe she really needed to have some confidence in Algren after all. She walked over to him and gave him a quick hug before he twirled her around playfully. It did not take long for them to realize that Katsumoto actually approved of their relationship, and with that, the entire village and the rebel leader's men gladly gave their support as well. "Algren-san, you surprised even Miryu, congratulations."

"It is nothing, friend," the Captain replied in Japanese, which seemed almost natural to him, save for his strange "accent" as the locals called it. It was the result of too many years speaking in English, causing for the inability to pronounce certain words with the finesse of a native speaker, but how Miryu spoke several foreign languages flawlessly was beyond him. "I have had great teachers," he added, looking towards Miryu and Ujio, who gave him slight nods of approval.

* * *

When evening came, Algren and Katsumoto had another of their "conversations" while watching Miryu practice atop a green hill. "The Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu is a strange and beautiful style, Captain, and they say that its among the most powerful in Japan," Katsumoto said to Algren, naming Miryu's unique kenjutsu style he was sure Algren had not known. It was one of the open secrets that several top members of the Ishin-Ishishi ever known, that Battousai and Battouryu were the students of the 300 year old style and philosophy wrought in secretly in the shadow of the mountains around Kyoto, and one that Miryu hardly talked about. Still, it was no harm in telling Algren that.

"Rare and beautiful like she is, if I don't say so myself," Algren commented, watching the fire in her eyes burn as they always did. "Was she like that when you fought together as well?"

Strangely, Katsumoto shook his head. "She was like an empty shell with only anger and pain," he replied with a grave voice. "Miryu wanted vengeance upon the government that caused so much suffering to the people of Japan, and she wielded her sword with rage, although she smiles as she does now. Her companion, Battousai, was just too pure and innocent to believe that they were really using the sword to create a new future."

Algren did not know what to say… So, Miryu and this infamous Battousai, were merely children given great skill to kill in a middle of a great uprising? Was the world so different there nine years ago? "But other than what you are doing now, Japan has peace, right?" he asked. Katsumoto gave a slight nod, which relieved him to now end.

"Know that before she met you, Captain, she had never truly smiled before," Katsumoto said. "In a way, you are helping Japan. The Emperor would not be as worried of her when he sees her next time…"

Just then, Algren's world stopped. What the hell was he supposed to tell the Emperor?


	23. Fight

Miryu had been a woman skilled in the arts of the tongue and the sword, but Algren did not know that she was an amateur actor in Kyogen as well. Standing in the center of the make-shift stage near Taka and her house, she acted as a woman trying to repel off many lecherous men and their displays of affection. It was strange to Algren's eyes, but he was never a man for the theater, but there was a hint of humor in her acting, and the villagers who watched all laughed at her antics upon the stage.

However, her being on the stage was not part of the rites of the celebrations of the first spring plantings. It had a lot to do on her ability to sense Ki, just in case there had been any threats. And right now, she was sensing a lot of them, and judging by the fleeting appearances and disappearances of Ki from the buildings behind, she guessed that they would be dealing with shinobi that night. She did not know what organization they were from, but she knew that they came with a purpose. They were after Katsumoto. That, and her katana was not by her side… She needed to get off-stage and get it, but it would alarm the villagers… She looked towards Ujio, who shook his head, silently urging her to stay put with his imposing gaze.

Relenting, she continued to play her role, and Katsumoto came up as well, much to the surprise and elation of the villagers. "Katsumoto-san, are you mad?" she whispered, secretly hoping that the play would just stop right then and there. "I see shadows above the roofs, can you see them?" Subtly, Katsumoto nodded, and began to instruct his men to bring them their weapons just in case. Several samurai began moving towards Taka and the boys, while Nobutada was already ready with his bow. Even their acting parts had been coordinated in case something like this happened and if not for one single miscalculation, they would have been successful in staving off the attacks. These shinobi had with them, crossbows.

It was rare that shinobi had carried ranged weapons other than kunai, throwing stars and the other tools of their trade, crossbows were certainly not part of them. Algren saw them too, and just as he shouted Katsumoto's name, the one of the actors shielded Katsumoto with his own body, dying in the rebel leader's stead. Wasting no time, Ujio threw the former and Miryu's katana to them as they began to fight off the shinobi, who came in waves upon waves.

"Algren, take Taka and her sons out of here!" Miryu shouted, trusting that he would have already gained a weapon by then. It would be her duty to get the women and children out of the chaos, and she knew exactly what to do. Hacking and slashing her way to get them to safety, she told them to form a line behind her, and to stay as close to her as possible. Things had better go right, or they would all be dead…

* * *

To say that Nathan Algren was making his kenjutsu teachers proud would be an understatement. He had already entered the house with Taka's family, and the children had gone into the room where their father's armor stood, as if his spirit was in there, watching them… He had heard Miryu state before that the style of the shinobi, or ninja, as they were known by the Westerners were far different than that of the samurai, and he knew least what to expect from them. However, he reasoned that they would be tied to the same basic rules, and decided to build on that.

He heard the sound of footsteps before the shoji door and readied himself to fight of any enemy that might come, only to find that it was Katsumoto. Soon, after they had acknowledged one another, they heard scraping sounds upon the roof, and seconds later, more shinobi exploded into the house, killing two of Katsumoto's bodyguards. The bald man had been the swiftest to act, effectively killing one of them after a rolling across the floor…

Just as Algren was picking up the katana of the dying samurai next to him, one of the shinobi dove into the window and started to lunge at him with a shorter version of the katana that he had seen the samurai used. He quickly dodged the attack, but took a sharp kick towards his stomach, sending him off the edge of a low table. In response, he kicked the table back, catching the shinobi off balance.

Many, many more similar exchanges ensued, including one where Taka miraculously drove a dagger into one of the shinobi in order to save Algren from a deadly blow that he could have not seen. Higen, ever the brave child, rushed into his father's room and retrieved the short blade, determined to help in the efforts of resisting the attacks, much to his mother's distress. The bravado in that boy was astounding, if not foolish. He was able to fend off several shinobi, who were startled to see a child attacking them, but the element of surprise quickly wore off.

Algren was able to quickly dispatch the shinobi who held him pinned onto the tatami with a chopstick into his eye, and quickly rushed to Higen's rescue. Before long, he was able to fight his way towards Katsumoto, where they killed more of the dangerous enemy that came in the darkness of the night. Soon, he could hear the tinkling of a familiar bell, and Miryu's voice outside the house, saying that the women and children were all safely delivered into their houses. Indeed, the prime target was Katsumoto and no one else…

* * *

"Let none escape!" Ujio shouted, and began to kill more of the attacking shinobi. Miryu suddenly came up behind him, and he said, "Your man is getting better, Miryu-chan, what have you been giving him?"

Miryu chuckled, while slashing a shinobi across the chest. "I did not give him extra lessons, if that was what you meant, Ujio-senpai," she replied, always enjoying their lighthearted banter they would share in times like these. Nine years ago, those experiences would be were numerous, and it brought back many memories to both of them. "Perhaps you gave him some pointers instead?"

"Last I checked, I still cannot stand looking at him without beating him up," Ujio answered, piercing his katana through a shinobi with a deafening roar. "It could not be me…"

After what seemed like an eternity, every last one of the shinobi had been cut down, and the samurai participated in a customary victory cry, Miryu included. Rushing into Taka's house, she found it in utter chaos, with corpses everywhere, while Katsumoto and Algren were standing next to one another, silently admitting that they were now comrades in arms. She smiled, and walked towards him, congratulating Algren with a hug that he duly returned.


	24. Drabble Filler Dreams II

Miryu dreamt of flames that night, flames, and a man, whose katana spout flames… She saw a ship, a ship armed with enough weapons to burn any shoreline in its way, and every single warrior she had known fighting against the strange warrior wrapped in bandages. And for some reason, Saito, Kenshin and even Shinomori Aoshi, the head of the Oniwabanshuu , were fighting side by side, while she stood in the shadows watching… She should be there with them? Why was she merely witnessing the duels going between them? The hate that the warrior harbored within him was as hot as the flames that emanated from him, and she was so afraid that she took a subconscious step back.

"Battouryu, are you sure that you do not want to dance with us?" he asked her, and his voice, it was ever so familiar. She looked at the man, and found that his face was covered in bandages as well, save for the iron circlet that he wore around his brow… Who was he, and how did he know her? This time, she looked around her, and found that only she remained standing. "I have defeated Battousai, and I am sure that you shall be an easy prey…"

Somehow, she felt that she could not use the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu to face him, that she had to find some other alternative style, a style which he had not seen before. Falling into a stance that was almost natural to her, she attacked, delivering a stroke that deviated from battou-jutsu styled combat completely, a mixture of what she had known, and what she known to be against, a culmination of her knowledge in the sword-arts, a style that she had created with Algren not long after Katsumoto's uprising was quelled…

"So, you found a new style," the warrior said to her, his voice charismatic, but still poison-filled. "And too bad that you lost your legendary creativity…" With one swift duck, he managed to parry her attack, and deliver a kick towards her abdomen. "Starting a Gatotsu attack with a battou-jutsu stance… And they said that you were a genius…"

She smelt of gunpowder, and before anything could happen, everything went black. How could she, Tsubasa Miryu, be defeated by a method that was not clear to her? She felt no cold steel pierce her body, but only a deep, painful burn… What was happening to her? Was she going to die? No, she could not die yet, she had to live, she had a life with Algren, with the children they would have, and Hiko, and all that she loved… She could not die now!

Forcing herself to open her eyes, she immediately found herself in her own room, her katana by her side. She had been around Algren for far too long, she concluded, she was having nightmares of her own… And strangely, when she turned to the other side of the futon, she found him, sleeping next to her, in naught but a thin yukata.

"Don't tell me that you're waking me up now, Miryu," he groaned, when he sensed her movements. "It's far too early to do anything now… Humans need their sleep, you know…" She chuckled, and scooted closer to him, yearning for his warmth, and he gave her just that. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her closer to him, allowing her to rest her head on his broad chest. He had decided to sleep next to her that night after going into her room to check on her, perhaps giving her a surprise in the morning, but it seemed like the surprise had to come a little bit earlier.

No words could describe how safe Miryu felt that night, with his arms around her, his heartbeat, so strong and steady, clearly head. Whatever dreams she had could just wait, and she was content. Very, very, content. For all that she needed, all that she wanted, had come to her, in the form of a stalwart American, who held her tight as he slept, and sleep they did, until the morning came.


	25. Blossoms

The next day, both Miryu and Algren were summoned to meet with Katsumoto, in a compound where the sakura trees were in full bloom. It was a sight of sheer majesty and beauty, and Algren took the opportunity to absorb everything about him. "My Shishou once said that the sakura in spring is what makes Sake taste good," she said to him with a small grin, as he reached out to caress a petal, only to have the blossom disintegrate into his hand. "They are fragile, Captain," she added, placing a hand on his arm. "Even the slightest gust of breeze blows them off their branches."

"Then I should be lucky that you're not like they are," he whispered into her ear, expecting some violence done onto him, but found her glaring at him with her sapphire eyes, which told him that he had better come up with something really romantic or witty, or he would receive worse than what the shinobi received from her yesterday… "You don't see these flowers fight like you every day, don't you?" he stammered quickly, securing his safety. He just had to fall for a volatile former assassin, he just _had_ to…

The moment they got into the compound, they found Katsumoto also admiring the sakura blossoms, sitting amongst the trees, in utter serenity. "A perfect blossom is a rare thing," he said, looking at the two of them, "You could spend a lifetime looking for one, and it will not be a wasted life." Placing a hand on Miryu's shoulder and Algren's, he told them, "I am happy for the both of you to have found one another, and may your happiness last."

Algren and Miryu smiled, and bowed at him. Although he had approved of them, he had said nothing about their relationship until now, and they were glad that he said those words. But there were still more pressing matters to be considered. "Who sent those men to kill you?" Algren asked after he had uttered his thanks to Katsumoto. He did not know much about the shinobi, but Miryu had told him that only a man of influence could have hired them, and in such a great number.

"They were not from the Oniwabanshuu," Miryu said to Katsumoto, knowing that Shinomori Aoshi and his men were only concentrated in becoming "the best", and to protect their own diminishing organization. They would not so easily resort to doing the dirty work of certain politicians, especially when they sided with the Bakufu during the Bakamatsu. And they were certainly not the shinobi she had fought with Kenshin just before they accidentally killed Tomoe, for she was sure that she had killed every single one of them with Kenshin that day..

The rebel leader just shook his head. "I am writing a poem," he said, totally disregarding their words. "_The tiger's eyes are like my own, but he came from a deep and troubled sea. The dragon that protects him has his love_," he recited, his expression changing to one of frustration after the abrupt stop at the end. It was clear that it was about the two of them, and they looked at one another. They could not allow him to play such word games anymore. They needed a course of action, and to do that, they needed to know who sent the shinobi.

"The Emperor?" Algren suggested, but both Miryu and Katsumoto shook their heads. They reasoned that if the Emperor wanted Katsumoto's head, he had but to ask. And for some reason, he was sure that it applied to Miryu as well. "Omura?" Now, there was a huge possibility that it was Omura. If the Prime Minister was able to crush Katsumoto's rebellion, the trade deal with America would make him richer than ever… Personal gain had blinded the formerly honorable man, and it had been more and more evident. The other Ishin-Ishishi patriots could not argue with him, not when it was his cutting-edge Western styled tactics that gave them their victory over the Bakufu…

Katsumoto inhaled deeply and said, "I am having trouble finishing the poem. Can you suggest a last line?" Miryu declined with a soft chuckle, and Algren replied that he was not a writer. "And yet, you have written many pages since you came here…"

"What else has she and Miryu told you?" the American asked in return. There were a great many things that he never thought Katsumoto would have known, but there was a possibility that Taka had delivered reports about him other than Miryu as well…

"That you have nightmares," the other man said simply. After that, Algren replied that every soldier had nightmares, a fact that he had thought was solid in its nature. However, Katsumoto begged to differ. "Only one who is ashamed of what he has done." Algren looked at Miryu, and remembered that she once told him that she dreamt that the wives and children of the men she had killed coming to her, wanting revenge, but they would not kill her. In her dream, they put her in a golden cage in the Shogun's palace, where he would defile her; a culmination of all her own fears… If even one like Miryu had nightmares of her own, how could he be exempted from them?

Algren still did not relent. "You don't know what I have done," he said softly, casting his eyes at Miryu. He knew that he had yet to tell her much of his past, but the wounds were still too fresh for him to do so, and it seemed that she understood. In their many conversations after that snowy evening when their love for one another had been made clear, they had decided to let Time reveal everything between them.

"You have seen many things," Katsumoto said simply, after dismissing one of the samurai at the entrance of the compound. To this, Algren gave an affirmative answer. "You do not fear death, yet you wish for it, is this not so?" The American could only answer with a "yes", holding Miryu's arm in his. With her sapphire eyes, she told him that she would stand by him, whatever the outcome, and he knew that it was all that he needed. "I also… It happens to those who had seen what we have seen. And then, I come to this place of my ancestors and I remember, like these blossoms… we are all dying… To know life in every breath, every cup of tea, every life we take, that is the way of the warrior… Miryu knows this most of all."

She smiled, and bowed slightly at his words once again. "Life in every breath…" Algren repeated, to which Katsumoto stated that it was Bushido. The woman beside him just gazed into his ocean-colored eyes, and let the bewilderment set it. It seemed suddenly so clear to him, that everything he had learnt, seen and experience, was indeed contributory to the principles of Bushido.

However, Miryu sensed that there was more to what Katsumoto truly wanted to tell them. "Katsumoto-san, you were saying?" she asked cautiously. And true to her guess, there was indeed something else.

"The Emperor has granted safe passage to Tokyo, we leave tomorrow," Katsumoto said, waiting for Algren's reaction, as was Miryu, but he revealed nothing. It did not matter, and when the samurai previously dismissed return with algren's pack containing his journals, he said to the American, "when I took these, you were my enemy."

Algren look at him in understanding and bowed to him. Indeed, the months he had spent there had changed him, and he was grateful. He was grateful indeed…


	26. Return

The day had come for Katsumto, his men, Miryu and Algren to leave the village and head for Tokyo. It would be the first time Algren would ride through the mountains as a free man, and he relished the experience. "I grew up in the mountains not far from Kyoto, and I assure you, the sights are much fairer than this," Miryu said to Algren in Japanese, so that the others could hear her. Ever since he had somewhat mastered the language, she had subconsciously spoken to him in Japanese without even realizing what language she had been speaking in… Perhaps it was the complications of being a linguist?

Nakao just scoffed. "Just don't listen to her talk," he told Algren. "The Kyoto Mountains are exactly like these…" Well, technically both of them were correct, so he just watched them bicker with one another. Things got even funnier when Nobutada occasionally butted in, but was ignored by the two of them on purpose. The entire episode was enough to bring all the men to laughter, exempting no one.

"It is wondrous how a little youth brings to a group of old men," Katsumoto commented to Algren. To that, Ujio stated that he recalled that the only one who was old was his liege lord only. "Were your men like ours?"

The question made Algren look back into his memories for a moment, and he said, "No, there are the occasional jokes, but they're not like that all the time." If "occasional" meant every few years, then he would be speaking the truth, he thought to himself, but what Katsumoto did not need to know that, especially not in those times…

Once they entered the city of Tokyo, they created a huge ruckus. It was rare to see a group of samurai stride into the "modernized" capital on horseback, and the peasants immediately cleared the road for them to pass by. All the Westerners were ablaze with a mixture of awe and outrage, for they have not yet witnessed any such people with pride in their "backward" and "conservative" ways. And no doubt, Simon Graham would be among them, as well as a particular red-haired man of slight build with a cross on his left cheek… Unknown to one another, the two men followed the procession until they stopped at the quarters in which the foreign military-men were housed, where Miryu and Algren took their leave.

"May we see you again in times of peace," Miryu said to all of them before she and Algren bowed to them, a gesture which they all returned. Algren found no words to speak, but realized that some of the men were fixed upon something not far into the distance. And when Miryu turned to see who they were looking at, she realized that it was Graham and Kenshin. "Graham… Kenshin… its good to see you again!"

Kenshin smiled and replied, "It is good to see you again, de gozaru yo." With a bow, he turned to Katsumoto and his men. "It has been too long, Katsumoto-dono. Sessha hopes that we will meet each other de gozaran."

"We shall, Himura-san. Perhaps when our Miryu finally holds her wedding… She has a lot to talk to you about, I think," Katsumoto replied, his voice hiding the deep concerns in his heart. There was totally no reason to alert Battousai in what did not concern him, and he did not need the pure-hearted champion of the people fighting against him when the time came for it. "Please, excuse us, my men and I have important matters to deal with…"

Once the samurai left, Graham said, "Well, let's get inside for a nice long talk, shall we?"

* * *

Algren, for one, was astounded to finally meet the man known as Himura Battousai. He had expected a tall, fearsome warrior, a man of great stature, not this… scrawny-looking fellow. His katana, Algren learnt, was a special one, where the edges of the blade were reversed, due to his wish never to kill after the days of the Bakamatsu. Still, the power that emanated from him somewhat equaled that of Miryu's. They were students of the same philosophy, of the same style, and yet, they seemed so different from one another… This man, held as much shame of his own past as he did, and Algren could see it deeply in his amethyst eyes.

"Algren-dono, it pleases me to see that Miryu has found that special someone in you de gozaru yo," Kenshin said. "That way, Shishou and I would not need to worry about marrying her off de gozaran!" Miryu glared at him, and sent a pillow flying towards him, sending him falling towards the wall, of which he was a few feet away, in a surprising show of her mastery over her Ki. And the sound which he emitted, something that sounded like "OROOOOOOO…" was definitely strange to Algren indeed. Was this man really a bloodthirsty killer everyone claimed him to be?

Graham clicked his tongue, "Miryu, didn't your master teach you to play fair?" he asked while sipping some macha that the servants in the quarter had served them. "He would be so ashamed."

Kenshin merely said, "Graham-dono, our Shishou would just let us continue hitting one another until one of us got hurt…" Hiko Seijurou spared no quarter when the training of his two disciples were concerned, not even if Miryu had been a daughter to him. Heck, she had to partake in the "violent training methods" their Shishou would subject them to as much as he did even if she was a girl.

"So, Kenshin-san, why didn't you join the Emperor's service like Miryu?" Algren asked curiously. "Surely, one like you could have an important role in the current government?"

The red-haired man replied that he had no interest in any political power of any sort, and even if Miryu had turned down to become the Empress, becoming the Emperor's bodyguard instead, his place was still with those who could not defend themselves, who were the ones who truly needed his help. Algren had come to discover that he and Miryu applied the principles of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu differently: Kenshin took the philosophy a little more literally, swinging his sakabattou to defend those who could not, helping the poor, the defenseless against those who would oppress them physically. Miryu, on the other hand, took a more abstract approach. For example, if Katsumoto were to really raise a rebellion in the name of the samurai, she would fight by his side, as a voice that they did not have. During the Bakamatsu, she fought for the women and the children, who were all political victims and casualties of the old system…

The differences within them were stark, to those who knew them, but to the untrained eye, they were so much alike that one might have thought that somehow, they were siblings. The extreme politeness, their mild laughter and ready smiles… they were almost identical. And it seemed strange, that Kenshin had not caught wind of Katsumoto's uprising at all, or he did not mention anything about it… Was he purposely ignorant of it, or was he refusing to acknowledging it?

"He knows," Miryu said once Kenshin and Graham had left when they noticed how late the night actually was. "Kenshin is a clever man, Algren, he has been in the same circles as I have, and he does not want any part in this. So long as the general populace is unhurt, he would disregard everything he hears about this."

Algren nodded before turning to Miryu, saying, "So, he's more of a people person than you are… I get it."

She shook her head. "More than that, Captain, Kenshin is more than that. He thinks that he can save the world from everything, he asks of the impossible of himself. No one can stop war, disease and disaster, but he takes all of his abilities to try to stop almost everything… I fear one day that all that guilt of being unable to help will catch up to him if he goes on like this."

"But you'll be right beside him, won't you, even if you fight for things that are a little different?" he asked, holding her in his arms. She just confirmed his answer with a small kiss to his cheek, and bade him goodnight. "Is that all you can do, Tsubasa Battouryu?" he challenged her, unwilling to let go. As a response, she smirked, and kissed him fully.

Blushing at her sudden boldness, she rose from the couch they were in, only to have him pull her back once again. "What is it now, Captain Algren?" she asked, suppressing a groan as Algren moved to kiss the nape of her neck, once he lowered the collar of her uniform. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she managed to pull him closer, unable to resist him.

"Stay with me, just for this night," he pleaded, and carried her towards the bed. How he had waited for this to happen, where there would only be the two of them, and no one would know… Her house was just too close from Taka's in Nobutada's village, and anything that they might have done could be easily heard by the others, but there in the military quarters, it was totally different…


	27. Stay With Me

"Stay with me…" Algren had told her that night, and Miryu allowed herself to give in to the American. She could see from the depths of his ocean-hued eyes that he desired her greatly, and she knew, she knew well that he had been trying his utmost best to remain honorable, unwilling to push her where she did not feel comfortable to tread. But she was afraid as much as she had wanted him in the same manner as he did her… She was no virgin, for the Emperor desired her as well, and whatever the Emperor wanted, she had to give. Young Meiji had not forced her as well, but she was a woman in the flower of youth, and she had her own needs that had to be satisfied at that moment… When she had told him of her past… experiences, he calmly reassured that he was no more innocent as she was, and that he did not mind, so long that she knew that she, and only she could make him long for a woman for so long, and still garner his respect and love…

Literally melting into Algren's arms, Miryu leant her head on his shoulder, uttering a word of thanks. Her sapphire eyes, they were half-filled with tears, and he kissed them all away, his movements soft, and ultimately tender. He knew of her fears, for often sex outside marriage was taboo, even in the West. But they were full-grown adults, and he swore to God that he would take full responsibility that would befall her, not only willingly, but from the very depths of his heart. "Algren…" she murmured his name as their lips soon met, and it was a sound that he hoped that he would hear more throughout the night. Moaning into the kiss, she allowed herself to be picked up by him and was laid on his bed, her long, ebony hair spilling all over the place like black strands of a spider's web, entangling, and highly enticing in its beauty. Running her fingers through his hair as he rained more heated kisses onto her lips and neck, she could feel his manhood against her thigh, and felt compelled to stroke it, an act that she did without consulting all rational thought.

Algren's response was a deep groan, a brief pause that caused her to jerk her hand away immediately, but he caught it and kissed it lightly, whispering into her ear, "Do it again…" It was not a request, that she knew from the tone of his voice, which seemed so husky and masculine to her all of a sudden. Biting her lip seductively, she did as she was told, and the Captain groaned once more, pulling her body closer to his. Feeling a fleeting sense of empowerment, she quickly removed his trousers and found exactly what she had sought out. Slowly wrapping her hand around the base of his length, she stroked it in vertical motions, licking the head every now and then, causing Algren to throw his head back, and moaning her name. It was not before long that she began to kiss his manhood from base to tip, proceeding to gently play with his sac with her deft fingers. "Miryu…" he moaned, taking off the rest of his clothes, and some of hers while she played with him. The woman looked up to him and smiled, concentrating on bringing him pleasure, a task that proved no little difficulty for her, for it seemed that he was responsive to every single touch that she gave him, from the slightest caress of her tongue, to the sensations of her sucking him dry but moments later.

He thought that he had died and went into heaven after he exploded in her mouth, sending streams of his seed into her mouth, which she readily swallowed, readily teasing him by continuing to suck and lick his manhood even after he came undone, bringing him into another erection. With a devilish smirk, he flipped her over the bed and began to kiss her hungrily, whilst removing the last of the barriers between their naked flesh. And for the first time, he saw with his own eyes, the full extent of her legendary beauty, one that was unseen by all others, save for the Emperor, and himself… And now, he had her all to himself, a selfish thought, but it seemed that it would be the cruel truth… Drinking in the sight of her white, flawless skin, the flush of her cheeks and her full breasts capped with soft brown nipples that he spend almost an eternity sucking and nibbling moments later. And oh, had she purred and cooed at every single touch he gave her… Wrapping her legs around his waist, she closed the distance between them, demanding a kiss from him before allowing him to venture to the valley of her cleavage with his tongue, followed by her abdomen. Untangling himself from her mile-long legs, he spread them gently and teased her nether lips. "Oh… Algren!" she yelped, arching her back to give him better access to her jewel.

"You taste so good," Algren commented, thrusting his tongue onto her clitoris, lapping at it as a lone wolf drinks from a cool spring in autumn's embrace. She was just… perfect for him, and the more he had consumed her, the more he wanted her, and he knew that his hunger for her would never cease. Miryu's yelps of pleasure soon became raspy moans as she approached her peak. Her sapphire eyes were closed as she experienced her orgasm, screaming his name as she clutched on the sheets as everything turned white. It was nothing… nothing like she had felt before, and by the gods, did she want more.

Bringing himself up again, he kissed her once more, their tongues joining in a dance only of carnal desire and longing before thrusting his manhood, already erect again into her sheath. Seconds later, she began to match his rhythm, gyrating her hips as he thrust himself in and out of her, in something so primordial, turning it into a piece of their own heaven. Kisses were shared, screams of utter pleasure were heard, and proclamations of reaching the abode of heaven as well. There was utterly nothing else like what they had. They rode out their orgasms together, and the feeling of her tight walls clenching around his member as she screamed his name aloud, it was enough for Algren to have died then and there… For the longest time, he remained within her, content of the feel of her around him, covering all of him, whilst he whispered sweet nothings into her ear, kissing her every now and then before pulling out of her, and falling asleep with her in his arms, her head resting on his broad chest…

If this was what a piece of heaven felt like, then Nathan Algren would die happily, knowing that Miryu was his, and his alone…


	28. Firepower

Never before had Miryu woken in a man's arms so fulfilled, feeling so blessed and loved. She watched Algren as he remained sleeping, and basked in the afterglow of the night previous. He had more than just taken her, he had totally ravished her, again and again until both his desire and curiosity was filled, while she did the same to him. Such an experience had never been offered to her when she was with the Emperor, where the aim was to satisfy his Imperial Majesty and no one else… And each time, she questioned her very existence… had she come all the way; just to be some toy for a young monarch? But with Algren, she felt truly loved, truly cherished, and she was happy.

"Good morning," Algren murmured into her ear, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger, relishing the feel of her soft body against his. She had ruined him for all other women, he swore in his mind, and only she, could make him burn as she did the night before. All he could say that the experience was… orgasmic. "And there is one thing that I want to ask you, Miryu… Why do you always wake up before me?"

She just laughed, and muzzled his neck slightly. "Captain, I am your bodyguard, and as such, I have to rise earlier than you are," she answered, inching closer for a kiss, which he readily obliged, giggling as he quickly flipped her beneath him, taking full use of his fast reflexes. "Now, you do not want to be late for your reunion with Bagley," she threatened, sliding her arms up and down his back. How she wished that they could remain like that forever, but as always, he had his duty, and she had hers. He had already delayed much time, and should have reported to his superior immediately after his arrival in Tokyo.

Algren acted as if he paid no heed to her words, and continued to explore her body with the softest of kisses. "Why won't you samurai just lighten up for once?" he asked her, grazing his tongue on a particularly sensitive spot, causing her to giggle uncontrollably before moving back up to claim her soft, pink lips with his. He had no desire to see that man at all, and he knew that Miryu shared this knowledge as well. As much as protocol dictated that he should meet Bagley as soon as possible, he wanted to delay it as long as he could. "It's not like he will die of old age waiting for me."

Miryu clicked her tongue. "Algren, this is not you talking," she said, her tongue meeting his between their mouths. Oh kami, why did he have to be so… irresistible? It was as if the gods had created his likeness in a quest to sculpt the perfect man… Those eyes, they seemed to laugh when he did as well, and she was utterly captivated, especially when they were filled with that hunger-filled, smoldering light that she knew was only for her.

"Then what is it, Miryu?" he asked, pulling her closer towards him, making quite sure that a moan escaped her lips when he nibbled on the arch of her neck. Her answer was the slightest caress at the apex of his thighs… "Do that again, one more time, woman, and I shall not be responsible for my actions," he murmured through gritted teeth, pressing himself against her to prove his… point. She just cupped his face with her dainty, white hands and pulled him in for another kiss before rising from the western-styled bed with the blanket in tow to cover her modesty, walking towards her own room across the corridor. Oh, was she going to get it that night…

* * *

Within the next hour, Algren and Miryu were already in the Imperial Army's training grounds, only to find it utterly changed, from the uniforms of the soldiers, to the people who were actually training them. In Algren's absence, two German military-men were hired, with their own bodyguards as well, no doubt; however, those men were more like advisors as he had been a hands-on kind of employee. "It's good to be back," he whispered into Miryu, to which words she smiled whole-heartedly.

Before she could reply, they heard an all-too familiar voice that Algren had dreaded to hear. "Algren… Algren!" It was Colonel Bagley. "My God, you're alive, and your pretty little bodyguard, too!" If Miryu were a snake, she would have hissed and delivered a poisonous bite towards the man. Some pretty little bodyguard she was! "You never cease to astonish…"

Algren pretended to take no notice of him, grinning when he saw Miryu's reactions to his words. What he did notice, was the cannons that the Imperial Army seemed to have now. "Howitzers…" he named them precisely. In his days in the American army, he had used them to his full advantage, and knew well their superior range and ability to take down any enemy force foolish enough to charge against them.

"Yes," Bagley replied. "This is but a slice of what we have to offer." At those words, Miryu just glared at the Colonel. Katsumoto would not stand a chance against such weapons, not even if she and Kenshin fought side by side. It simply was not done! "As soon as the Emperor signs the damned trade agreement, he gets the whole package, including this particular item." He side-stepped to show Algren and Miryu just what he had been talking about, a set of shiny Gatling guns, hot off the assembly line. Miryu had seen those guns before, they had been in use during the Bakamatsu once the Kiheitai was supplied with foreign weapons… Those guns were deadlier than any machine of war she had seen, and she took a little gulp, far from the earshot of Bagley. "200 rounds a minute, the new cartridges even cut down on jamming. One of the big-shot businessmen liked them so much that he even bought one from us!"

Big shot businessmen… who would buy such a thing? Miryu asked herself. However, she was not familiar with the business circles, and could not pinpoint a single one who had the purchasing power, and the reasons to support such a purchase.

"I need a bath," Algren commented, looking at Miryu, whose expression immediately changed when she saw the Gatling guns. He wanted to hold her hand, to draw her in his arms, but in the company of Bagley, well, it would not be that… appropriate. Genuinely, he could see that she was worried, very, very worried…

Bagley snorted at Algren's words. "After living with those savages for so long, I can only imagine," he said, in a low voice, so that Miryu could not hear him. After Algren's capture, he had heard from some of the men that Miryu was of high samurai linage, and his distaste for her trebled. "Welcome back, Captain…"


	29. Confrontation

It was true that Tsubasa Miryu was born of samurai blood, true that she was a samurai warrior, feared and loved by all, but she swung her sword for those whose lives were ignored by those of power, samurai or not, and this time, it would not matter. She would fight alongside the men she still considered her brothers, her uncles and her fathers, if the call needed it, and she knew that if all goes wrong, she would just die beside them… Deep in her heart, she knew that there would be a chance that Algren would return to America, he would just want to get away from everything that would happen, and she knew that it would be a wise decision. What fool would fight for a foreign country, and die for a lost cause there? And if he would leave, she would stay and fight, and have no regrets, because she had his love, and she had lived according to the principles of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu…

Deep in her thoughts, she did not notice that they were being led into Omura's office… The Prime Minister had held several meetings with foreign dignitaries, and they were but another one. Once they were inside, she instinctively let go of Algren's hand, lest his scarred bodyguard found out anything between them. With sapphire eyes of fire, she looked at the man she once saw as her comrade, and found nothing else, but hatred and contempt towards the others who he had once fought with, and continued to stare him down silently. In that room, she was but a bodyguard, but Omura knew the significance of it, and he knew it well. She was the voice of the people, as Battousai had been their protector, and now, she was practically protecting not only Algren, but the remnants of the Samurai as well.

Tired of meeting the woman's defiant gaze, Omura turned to Algren and said, "Captain Algren, it seems that you have endured your captivity with little ill-effect." To that, Algren replied that he was not ill-treated, and watched him closely. Indeed, Miryu's influence had rubbed off too much onto him, the Prime Minister spat in his mind, and the Ambassador… the man would not stop pressing him that the agreement be signed! Could he not see that he needed clarification from one who had seen Katsumoto's forces, and one who had been among them for months on end? Once more, Omura asked Algren, "Will these weapons be sufficient to defeat the rebels?"

Judging by Miryu's reaction but a few hours ago, Algren already knew the answer. Katsumoto and his men would not stand a chance against those weapons, and a genius would not be needed to know that it was true. He could feel the anger in Miryu's heart, for her usually calm demeanor had been replaced by one that bordered upon hostility… "Sufficient… Oh, I think so," he replied casually, secretly wishing that there could be a way to comfort Miryu somehow.

"I am eager to know how many samurai have joined Katsumoto," Omura added. What were a few hundred men against thousands of modern-trained soldiers with guns to kill men more than their numbers? Why would he need to know? And although he had spent months with them, Algren really did not know how many of them would fight. There would be roughly a few hundred, but there could be more, as the village was closed off by the mountains in the winter. Giving the honest answer that he did not know, Bagley inquired further, stating that he and Miryu had spent the winter in Katsumoto's encampment.

Miryu would have spoken, but she knew that Bagley disliked her too much to consider her existence and Omura disregarded her because of her current station. There would be a high possibility that she would join Katsumoto as well, the Prime Minster knew, and she would be a deadly enemy, as she had been a powerful ally. Algren just looked at his superior and responded, "As you said, Colonel, they are savages with bows and arrows." She chuckled softly, and subtly laid her hand on his shoulder.

What ensued moments later, was not a battle of tongues, but a plead, by the Ambassador to be heard. For him, this was not a duel of ideals, or a question of how much wealth was to be gained as a result of the extinction of the samurai, it was a simple matter. So long he could procure the Emperor's signature for the trade agreement; he would have his job as Ambassador… Omura quickly commented that if he could not wait, there would be other countries that would be more than willing to supply arms to Japan. Defeated, the Ambassador left the draft of the agreement on Omura's desk and left, swallowing his building rage. Quickly, Omura made a move to dismiss the others, save for Algren.

"This is not a conversation for a woman to hear," Omura then said to Miryu, who said nothing but walked behind Algren's chair in defiance. "You do not have the authority to stay here, or the right to…" He had enough of her, this foundling child who claimed the heart of not only the Emperor. Oh, he knew of she and Algren, his spies were already reporting that they were caught alone together ever since the American came to Kyoto with Katsumoto's men… It was strange for them to fall for one another, and their union would highly dangerous to him…

Algren looked at Omura and said, "With all due respect, Mr Omura, she is my bodyguard, by the Emperor's orders. I think that she would not be in a comfortable position if she is discovered not doing her job." He had said those words as if it was the smallest issue ever, insignificant, and he knew that the Prime Minister did not enjoy it at all.

Omura gave one quick glare at Miryu and made to offer Algren some whiskey. And for the first time, he realized that the Captain's hands no longer shook, and he refused the offer of alcohol. It was most extraordinary… If he had been kept a prisoner, nothing of this sort would have happened, and the look of triumph on the young woman's face, it certainly confirmed his doubts. "Katsumoto is an extraordinary man, is he not?" he asked the American, almost casually.

"He is a tribal leader," Algren answered simply. "I have known many." That was the truth, and no one could deny it. But Omura knew better. He told Algren that none of the tribal leaders the American knew were samurai, whose ways have great appeal. He had been a student of modern warfare, a son of a merchant. And like all merchants, his father had been oppressed by the samurai, leading to his extreme dislike towards them, but like all Japanese, he was quite familiar of their ways. The samurai had honor, they had compassion, loyalty, no matter how much he hated to admit it… It was unfortunate that those were not values that Japan needed any longer. Without financial strength, foreign powers would take control of Japan, with their economies. "But that does not concern me."

Omura pressed further, unrelenting. "But now we are ready. If Katsumoto is allowed to attract more samurai to his cause, we will have ten years of rebellion. It is something that I will not allow," he said, waving his cigar. "Either I will stop him today at the Council, or you will lead my army against them. And our new weapons will _crush_ him." He had made the words "crush" as audible to Miryu as possible, which did almost nothing to intimidate her. Algren replied that he appreciated the offer, but he said that it was not an offer.

Algren knew the outcome if Omura was allowed to force him into a position where fighting against Katsumoto's forces: He would have to face Miryu on the battlefield, and they would have to kill one another. This is something that _he_ could not allow, and he would not give in easily. Even if he had a chance against her in hand-to-hand combat, he would be able to do anything to hurt her… But Omura could not know this… "Mr Omura, my contract with you was to train your army…"

"Then we would make a new contract," Omura stated. "One that would recognize your extraordinary contribution to the Emperor... Do we understand each other?" If he agreed, the Prime Minster reasoned, Miryu would be broken and shattered, and at least, Katsumoto would have lost his trump card. Deep within his mind, he knew that he was lucky that Himura Kenshin had resufed to take part in any of this, or he would have trouble dealing with the best warriors of Japan against his army, warriors that even Western guns were no match for.

Algren took a deep breath and said, "We understand one another perfectly." When Omura stood, and said that he was pleased, both he and Miryu knew that the meeting had come to an end. The moment they were out of the doors, he pulled her into an empty corridor and kissed her senseless. "Miryu, if I leave here, would you go with me?" he asked her, in between kisses, looking into her sapphire eyes, searching for an answer, any answer from her.

"I will always love you," she replied, falling into his arms. There was nothing else that she could say, nothing else that could be said. "My place here, now, is with my people. As a student of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, I have to defend them, for they can do nothing else but fight…"

He held her tight in her arms, and said, "If that is your decision, that I'm staying." He could not bear to part with her, not after she had given him so much peace and happiness. If she would leave him one way or another, he would rather die than just live the empty life he had before he met her. Sure, it was corny, but his choice was already made. "And you'll have no choice but to be close to me."

Chuckling, she kissed him once again. There would be no doubt that the man she loved was a stubborn man. "Come, Algren, I have a plan…" she said, taking him by the hand as they walked towards the main entrance of the building. "We just need another player… a particular translator we know and love…"

Algren knew who she was talking about: Simon Graham.


	30. Chaos

Graham had been waiting for them outside Omura's office, just as Miryu had predicted. "What in heaven's name is going on?" he asked them frantically. "The diplomatic community is all abuzz! They said that Omura has passed laws against the samurai!" The situation was dire, and he could see Miryu quickly putting on a ring that she had concealed within the folds of her obi… "If your friend Katsumoto shows up at the Council meeting armed, he is a dead man." Good, another reason for Algren to stay… Katsumoto would need rescuing, no doubt.

"Graham, we need you to do something for us," Miryu whispered before looking around for any of Omura's followers or henchmen. As quickly as possible, she told Graham of her plan and made sure that he was sworn to secrecy. She had wanted to offer him some monetary compensation with the wealth she had gained due to the fact that the Emperor seized the Tsubasa Clan's assets, and gave half to charity while endowing her with the other, but the Englishman declined, saying that it was a matter of honor. "My friend, you are indeed the best," she said with the biggest smile.

However, as they got around a corner in the street, they could hear several voices making a huge fuss, and all they could see were four soldiers in full uniform, surrounding a very familiar youth, bearing swords, with a straight gait as he stood there… It was Nobutada, and he was being taunted by the soldiers in the worst possible manner. "Miryu…" Algren said to her, and she nodded. Immediately, they rushed towards the soldiers, while he told them to put their rifles down.

"Who are the two of you?" one of the soldiers demanded. And just as Algren had told them of his position, they kicked him in the shin, causing him to almost fall to the ground. At this, Miryu quickly helped him up, but was slapped by another soldier. "You, woman, who do you think you are, wearing a katana like a samurai?"

She looked at him with poison-filled eyes as she stood up and showed him her ring. "I am Tsubasa Miryu, soldier, a ward of the Emperor. If you so much raise a finger against me, you are answerable to his Imperial Majesty," she replied. She knew that the Emperor had little power in the political arena, but amongst the populace, he was considered as a god. However, these soldiers were unmoving, and continued to harass Nobutada and Algren.

The soldier who slapped her added, "The Emperor's whore has no influence over us, much less a gaijin employee of the army!" Although they did not continue to assault her, they directed their attentions back to Nobutada, who had already reached for his own katana, mimicking one of Miryu's battou-jutsu stances. It was utter chaos. Such a thing was not meant to happen, not in a civilized society, not where the very balance of their nation was about to be threatened.

"To see armed soldiers harassing women, gaijin and a youth, you are but shame to your uniforms de gozaran," said a voice from behind them. It did not take long to know that Kenshin was there. He too, was bearing his sakabattou, despite the orders against the wearing of katana, and he was more than willing to use it against those soldiers at the time. "Captain Algren has come to train you to better the army, is that how you repay him de gozaru ka?"

One of the soldiers had enough, and started to threaten that Kenshin would be killed for blatantly disregarding the law and for insulting soldiers of the Imperial Army, but the red-haired rurouni made no change in his stand. With one swift stroke delivered to the chest, he incapacitated the soldier to the greatest effect. And the most astound thing was, not a single drop of blood was shed, much to the surprise of the gathering crowd. "Himura-san has changed much," Nobutada said when the remaining soldiers run towards Kenshin, ignoring him completely, only to receive the fate of their comrade. With all of the soldier's dealt with, the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving Algren and Miryu with Nobutada, and Graham, who was filled with awe. He had never seen such skill in his life before.

"Kenshin, have you heard?" Miryu asked him, sapphire eyes filled with worry. He nodded, and said that he would do all he can to aid in situations alike what had just happened. Those with the sword should not be dishonored in that manner, although they had been outlawed. However, in all technicalities, his sakabattou could not be considered as a true katana, and he would be easily forgiven, and Miryu, being a ward of the Emperor, and was on a temporary reassignment to Algren, meant that she had clearance to keep hers… Those deeply affected, would be the samurai who had no connections, no links whatsoever, with Katsumoto at their head.

Nobutada knew that Kenshin would not aid his father, and he understood well his reasons. "I'm afraid that you won't have the chance to, Himura-san," he said to Kenshin. "Omura will kill all of us with his Western weapons…" Miryu did not know how fast that information got to Nobutada, or it was just an assumption, but it broke her heart to see this proud youth lose hope so fast.

"Nobutada-dono, you must stay strong for your father de gozaru yo," Kenshin said with a smile. "Sessha remembers that he loves you de gozaran…" Sadly, those were matters that he could not step into; matters that he refused to meddle with. Miryu had always used the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu in the political aspect, and it was her decision, not his, and she was right in doing so... His place was with the people, and they were who he would defend. The samurai, they were capable of defending themselves, whether or not they would win against Omura, it was another matter entirely. However, in his mind, Omura's efforts to renew Japan were a welcome change to improve the nation, and that was all. "Miryu, Algren-dono, Sessha must take Sessha's leave de gozaru."

They nodded, and watched him leave. "We'll take you home," Algren said to Nobutada, while Miryu made sure that Graham would execute their little plan, stressing to him that it would cost their lives with there was any single error. Graham quickly nodded, and made for the military quarters, where he would wait for them… Unbeknownst to them, Omura's henchmen watched every single thing, and they had strict orders… Orders to kill both Algren and Miryu if they were found anywhere near Katsumoto.


	31. Memories

"_Who are you?" Katsumoto asked Miryu, looking at the girl, dripping wet, holding a katana in her hands that seemed too small to even hold them, and yet, she was tall, very tall... He had received reports about her for days, a girl, knocking at almost every door in Kyoto, searching for a boy known as "Kenshin", and it was about time that she had come to the Ohagi Inn, the headquarters of the Choushu-han… He looked into her eyes, and found that they were of sapphire, of the darkest blue, like that of a deep lake in the mountains, eyes that bore a spirit of fire… and that Ki, no normal child had Ki as strong as hers, except for the new hitokiri Katsura Kogoro had hired._

_The girl looked up at him and replied, "Sir, I am Tsubasa Miryu…" She spoke the name of her father's Clan so softly that only he could hear her, and immediately, he opened the door wider and led her into the inn. Hiko Seijurou had told her explicitly that the name "Tsubasa" could not be used lightly, if she was to survive the darkness that awaited her, but somehow, she knew that man before her would not harm her… "I come to look for a friend, Himura Kenshin," she pressed on, seemingly unafraid of him. "He is of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, as am I…"_

_Katsumoto sighed inwardly. This girl, there was no need for more confirmation that she was the rumored daughter of the Shinsen-Gumi's Iron Wolf-maiden and Tsubasa Akurou. He had seen her father before, and knew of his sapphire eyes as hers, but her strong jaw, high cheekbones, those were definitely features of the women of the Reiyama clan… If this child had grown in the circles of the samurai, she would have been a different woman altogether. Now, she stood before him, challenging him with her gaze, even if she did not do so intentionally… "What would you do if I let you see him? What then, Tsubasa Miryu?"_

_She bowed and said, "I shall fight for the cause of the Ishin-Ishishi, to bring a new age of equality and peace…" At her words, Katsumoto was taken aback. How was she able to know that she was in the Choushu-han? How was she to know that they were rising against the Shogun? This girl, she was not to be taken lightly. She told him how she had watched this inn for two weeks, and who came and went, who said what words at the door. Kenshin had told her that if he would fight in the coming conflict, he would fight for the Emperor, who was thought to be able to bring such an age… The moment she found him, she could have found any single Ishin-Ishishi faction…_

"_And why would you wish to do so?" Katsumoto asked further. He had seen the skill that Kenshin had, and if this girl was anything like him, she would be an ally that would be indispensible. Upon further thought, there was just a certain quality that differentiated her from Kenshin, and he could not guess what it was, but it was there… She was special, and girls with the samurai bloodline bearing the word, "Ryu" were all trained in the arts of the katana… Without even bothering to hear any more answers from her, he brought her to see Katsura Kogoro, sealing her fate, signaling the birth of Tsubasa Battouryu…

* * *

_

"You have come a long way since that day, Miryu," Katsumoto said to the woman next to him. "Who would have known what you have become if some Bakufu agents took you in instead?"

Miryu chuckled. She would always remember her first meeting with him, and replied, "I would be under the employ of my maternal grandfather, and I would be forced to cross swords with Kenshin upon the battlefield… I would have found my mother's family, but I would have lost my own…" Apart from her Shishou and Kenshin, there was no one she could have called her own before she joined the Choushu-han, and it was only after the Emperor decided to cut the Tsubasa Clan of its tyranny of the people did Reiyama Reiji, her maternal grandfather, try to reconcile with her… She bore no grudge against him, but still, the men of the Ishin-Ishishi felt more like a family to her.

Katsumoto laughed as well. "We never told you how much laughter you have brought us," he told her. "And now, you have softened the heart of the most jaded warrior... Your mother would be proud of you…" Her mother had been a subject that was rarely mentioned, but it was Katsumoto who told her that Reiyama Ryumiko had been a woman of high honor. He had faced her in battle before, and told her that no other woman could equal her strength and spirit, and that it was her that made him respect all womenfolk in general. That was why he set himself the task to mold her daughter into the woman she was now… And to be honest, he knew that he did a rather good job.

"Katsumoto-san, flattery does not become you," she replied. The Emperor had told her too often that he was a strict teacher, and she knew it to be true. "If there is anything I can do to make you see sense that throwing your life away will not help your cause at all, please, tell me…" She did not want him to leave before his time, her mentor and her friend. Without him, she could have been just an anonymous swordswoman with no cause and nothing to protect, no ideals… She had learnt to live, to live and to fight another day, and she wanted Katsumoto to see reason before it was too late…

However, the rebel leader was adamant upon his choice. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he looked at her, the daughter he would never have, and walked towards the front gate of his house, in the silks of a member of the Imperial Council, as a samurai of great honor and prestige… Algren had failed to persuade him against going against the Council, and she shared that failure as well.

As she watched the image of his back diminish in size as he walked further and further away, Miryu felt a stray tear fall from the corner of her eye… She knew that there was no reason to shed tears as of yet, that she, Algren and Graham would come to his rescue in the night, but somehow, a part of her was still afraid… Would there still be a Tsubasa Miryu without Katsumoto Moritsugu guiding her?

Algren walked to her side and held her by her waist silently, knowing very clearly that it was a difficult time for her. "Miryu, we have to get back," he said, planting a small kiss on her forehead. If anything happened, he swore to himself that he would be by her side, as she had been by his, up till now.


	32. Rescue

"Come with me," Algren said to Miryu, once Graham had tapped upon the window of his quarters, signaling that Bagley was in the complex. "In America, no one would find us, no one would know us, and the Emperor will know only after we're miles away…" Their plan had been set in motion, and they knew what they were supposed to do… She smiled, and inwardly applauded his acting skills, watching from the corner of her eye for signs of the Colonel.

Brushing her lips against his neck as soon as she heard approaching footsteps, she said, "Captain, my place is here, with my people. If Katsumoto falls, I must fight by the side of my brothers…" They share a brief, fleeting kiss, and when Bagley knocked upon the door, she ripped herself away from Algren's hold, and shared almost a tender gaze before grabbing her katana upon his bed, and standing beside him.

"Sorry for disturbing you two lovebirds," Bagley said with a smug expression on his face. He was taking the bait, and boy, was he in for it. Turning towards Algren, he studied the captain, who was looking at a scroll that contained a single word that he did not understand. "Omura offers you my job and you run away… I should be thanking you," he told Algren, with a little slip of sincerity in his words. Dropping a package into one of Algren's luggage bags he said, "Five hundred dollars a month, including back-pay for time spent 'in captivity'". He said the last two words looking at Miryu, who glared at him as she did Omura. This woman, he knew, would be a dangerous enemy if she wanted to, but thankfully, she was not in a position to do any harm to him. It was a shame that she had to be born into the social class that caused so many problems… she could have been a beautiful and…stimulating companion, as Algren had discovered. Only a man like Algren would accept just any riffraff he finds…

Algren was silent, and Miryu had abandoned her station, having started to help him pack, whispering to him in Japanese. Bagley was sure that it must have been some eternal declaration of love or something romantic like that. To be honest, he never thought that Algren had anything in him to have captured Miryu's heart… That woman was like a savage fire that could not be tamed! "Take care of yourself, Miryu," Algren said in English, giving her a quick hug before they continued packing again.

Bagley knew exactly when he was being ignored. Nevertheless, it had never deterred him before. He commented that the money Algren had received was enough to climb back into a bottle for the rest of his life, and that perhaps if he drank a little less, he could have been able to find himself a young wife and raise a family as well. The last bit was definitely aimed towards Miryu, but it had no effect on her whatsoever. "It's all over, by the way…" he added. "Katsumoto's under arrest, and Omura won't let him last the night. With Katsumoto dead, we'll have little trouble handling what's left of the rebellion, even without you…_especially _without you."

The woman said nothing, only casting her sapphire eyes upon Algren, until Bagley left. "What he says is true, Algren," she murmured. "If Katsumoto-san is dead, his uprising would be like water upon solid rock, we would have failed before we could have started…" She knew that Katsumoto would die either in the battlefield, or by execution, and she would have no regret or remorse if he expired in the manner of the former, for it had always been his wish… She, on the other hand, would live, and live to protect what she held dear, which was his legacy, and the ideals that he had taught her.

Algren gathered her in his arms and kissed her lips lightly. "It will be alright, Miryu," he said, cradling her for the slightest moment. His gesture comforted her, and by the time he had released her, she was already to execute the next part of their plan, which had been rather easy. All they had to do was to join with Graham, and make it look like he was actually going aboard the ship. Miryu, already changed into her formal uniform, discreetly retrieved a solid gold hairpin, studded with precious jewels, and gave it to the captain of the ship to ensure that Algren's name was clearly printed on the ship's passenger logs, and disembarked with him.

* * *

Night had already fallen when Algren and Miryu walked from Yokohama bay into the heart of Tokyo. Katsumoto's residence was in the outskirts of the city, and they were almost there when they were suddenly surrounded a group of several ronin, about four or five for the each of them. "Omura's men," she whispered to him, and threw him her wakizashi. Its length was shorter than the normal bokken or katana, but he had to improvise…

The men that charged towards Tsubasa Miryu were in the greatest surprise of their lives. They were faced with the fury that no man could ever carry in his heart, and the rate in which she killed them was so fast that even they would not have known that they were dead until they saw the gods of the netherworld before them. Such was the speed of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu that none of them had the time to scream or even blink their eyes, and in a spectacular display of grace and beauty, she had cut down a man into half vertically, severed another's legs before plunging her katana into his heart. The other two were struck down by debris she had caused to rise from the ground, just by striking it with her katana, followed by a swift arc that beheaded them in one slice. The last man that stood before her received the height of the style that washed the streets of Kyoto with blood in the dead of the night…

Algren had already killed off all his opponents when he watched Miryu dispose of the last man standing. She stood there, in the stance he came to recognize as the beginning stance of battou-jutsu, and charged towards the man, dealing him nine strokes in rapid succession, utterly disintegrating his being, leaving only nine pieces of flesh in its wake. He had never seen before a technique so gruesome in his entire life, and for the slightest moment, he could have sword that Miryu's eyes had turned into a deadly shade of golden amber before he was proven wrong. "What was that?" he asked her, as he took her hand while they left the place behind.

"Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu's Ku-Zu-Ryu-Sen," Miryu replied, "It was handed to me before I left my Shishou, and I discovered the technique to break it… The only reason why he survived was because that we used bokken the day he taught me the secret of our style, one stroke that requires speed that surpasses the god-like speed already demanded of us… I am still a woman, after all." She spoke those words with no shame and no regret, and Algren knew that she was proud to have learnt it… "Kenshin forsaken his training before he could master it," she told him, and was inwardly thankful for it, or he would have had to kill Hiko to learn the ougi, Amakakeru-Ryu-No-Hirameki…

* * *

Moments later, they met up with Graham, who had rented out two rickshaws: one for Miryu and Algren, and the other for himself and his camera equipment, with Ujio and several others disguised as bearers of the equipment, for rich gaijin often hired such people to carry their things around, and they would not be noticed at all if Graham, Miryu and Algren were to storm into Katsumoto's residence. Also, concealed within the bags of equipment, were their katana, and also that of Katsumoto's, which Nakao had stolen from Omura's office. With all due haste, they made for their destination, and found it heavily guarded with soldiers armed with rifles. "Whatever you do, don't stop," Algren whispered to the Englishman.

The guards began to shout at them, trying to stop them from moving any closer. Miryu, bearing her katana, leapt before them, unsheathing her weapon as Graham shouted back in his most commanding voice, "Prime Minister Omura has commanded us to photograph the traitor!" The guard, who appeared to be in charge, was not willing to relent. Graham then grabbed Miryu's hand, showing the guard her ring. "The Emperor has also honored us with the protection of his own bodyguard and ward, Tsubasa Miryu!" Turning towards the "bearers" of his camera equipment, he clapped twice and instructed them to bring them forward.

"You… stop!" the guard continued to scream. At this moment, Miryu began to ask for permission to kill him before Omura sent his men to kill them for failing to execute his orders, staring the young soldier down to great effect.

"You insolent son of a peasant dog!" Graham yelled at the top of his voice when the guard unsheathed his own saber in self-defence, "How dare you show your sword at _his_ presence!" He pointed towards Algren and continued, "Do you know who this is? He is the President of the United States of America, here to lead our armies in victorious battle against the rebels!" Apparently, the guard needed a little convincing to do. Graham, seemingly undaunted, then added, "Now get over there and help those men with their equipment!"

The guard finally relented, and instructed his men to do so per Graham's "orders". The very instant they were out of earshot, Algren muttered under his breath, "The President of the United States?" He told Graham to be creative, but not _that_ creative…

Allowing herself a light chuckle, Miryu patted her friend on the shoulder and made towards the room where Katsumoto was held. The board was all set, and now, it was time for the pieces to move…


	33. Sacrifice

"How's your poem coming?" Algren asked Katsumoto once they were led inside to the room where Katsumoto was facing a single tanto. The man's eyes immediately brightened once he saw Algren and Miryu, and stood up to greet them, saying that the end was proving difficult. Once one the "bearers" had set down the camera equipment, he continued, "This is Simon Graham, he would like very much to take your photograph."

Graham just stood there and gave Katsumoto a deep bow. "An honor," he said. Sharing a knowing smile with Miryu, Katsumoto found that this gaijin surely knew all of the ways of the samurai and the rest of his countrymen, a most astounding person… Usually, Graham's people would look down upon them, citing them as backward and barbaric, but he proved to be completely different.

"I thought that you returned to America," Katsumoto turned to Algren, seeking an answer from the man. "I expected that you brought Miryu from this country to yours to start anew…" It was only then did Algren realize that the bond Miryu shared with the rebel was alike that towards his own son. And as such, Katsumoto would have wanted a new life for Miryu, a life of peace with him in a strange, foreign land.

Miryu smiled, and said, "We thought that he should stay, to see if we could convince you to escape." She for one would have joined him whether or not Algren returned to America, for she felt that her actions were dictated by the principles of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu. "And whether you like it or not, you're coming with us."

Soon enough, a thud could be heard from outside the room, and Algren opened the shoji doors, revealing a dead guard, impaled upon a katana, by the looks of it. The "bearer" who killed the man, was none other than Ujio. Bowing to his lord, he handed Katsumoto his katana, as well as Algren's and Miryu's, which were concealed as the stands for the camera's tripod. There would be little time left, as the other guards would have already been alerted by their presence; Katsumoto had to make his escape now.

"Mr. Graham, perhaps you would care to take pictures of my village," Katsumoto said to Graham as they made towards the courtyard, as quickly as they could, with Miryu at the front, as she had always done so. After Shishio Makoto had taken Kenshin's and her position as the shadow hitokiri of the Choushu-han, they were tasked to become mobile attackers, bodyguards to key members of the han, as well as that of every single Ishin-Ishishi comrade. And she did her job most efficiently, almost ensuring a flawless exit into the gardens, not far from the rear gate of Katsumoto's vast residence.

However, once they were on the end of the bridge that led across the artificial lake and to the rear exit, they were being ambushed by more guards armed with rifles. Narrowly being able to cut a round into half with what speed and strength she possessed, Miryu started to move backwards, looking all around her for an alternative path, to no avail. "Here they come!" she exclaimed as they began to fight their way out of the estate, with wave after wave of guards coming their way…

Meanwhile, as more marksmen surrounded them, they were being saved by several archers, namely Nobutada, Nakao and the aged man Algren had named Silent Bob, who provided cover for them as they started to race towards the other end of the bridge. Miryu leapt to into the air, landing upon the narrow railings of the bridge, rushing back to aid the archers, securing their escape as well in a feat of extraordinary grace and balance. Algren could have sworn that she was not human if he had not known her, quickly ushering Graham in the correct direction as they dodged hundreds and hundreds of incoming bullets.

After she made sure that Nakao and Silent Bob were safely across, she looked at Nobutada and told him to get to safety as well, and what Algren saw next was even more brilliant than what he had seen in the dark alley where Omura's men tried to kill them. In one single stroke, she rammed her katana towards the guard directly in front of her, and it happened so fast that if one did not blink, one could still be unable to see how she had maneuvered her katana. The end result was something short of a small, but powerful vortex, that drew the guards in, allowing her to decapitate them easily, leaving the others stunned, thus giving her enough time to flee.

"Miryu-chan never used this technique before!" Ujio exclaimed, evidently awed by the sight he had just seen. Yes, it had been a technique based upon battou-jutsu, of which she was most famous for, but the speed, it was beyond god-like, utterly flawless. However, just as she managed to run towards the end of the bridge with Nobutada in tow, they were both shot: she in the calf, and Nobutada, in the knee. At once, Katsumoto sensed what had happened to the both of them, and quickly turned back to try to save them, only to be restrained by Ujio.

Nobutada and Miryu valiantly get up, continuing their escape, but he was shot at his side, while a bullet nicked her arm, causing her to wince in pain. "Nobutada, you will get through this," Miryu said, helping him to rise, with great difficulty. And without a single moment of hesitation, Algren ran towards them, and aided them to get across, unable to withstand another second being worried whether they were going to make it. Once they were across, Nakao and Silent Bob continued to let their arrows fly, providing cover for those who gathered around the two younger warriors. "I'm alright," Miryu told Graham and Algren, "Nobutada, get him out now…"

However, Nobutada was already gravely wounded, and the youth knew that it would impossible for him to be able to get home in his condition. No, he would not remain in the shadow of his father, he would make his own stand there, in his father's own home: A stand for the samurai, a stand for his right to practice the traditions honored by his family. "Chichiue, let me do this," he murmured to Katsumoto. They needed enough time to get on their horses, and he was the only one who could grant him that time. At this time, Miryu knew that she should be getting all of them out, but somehow, she knew that Nobutada was already set in his own resolve. "Miryu, Chichiue loved you as if you were my sister… Please, take care of him…"

"I will, Nobutada," she said, giving him a final hug. "Leave it to me, brother…" There were tears in her eyes, and that of Katsumoto's as well, but there was no choice… It had to be done. Before leaving upon Ujio's insistence, Katsumoto pulled his son to his feet, and gave him one last look, before he rode out with the others into the darkness of the night, grieve-stricken at the loss of his son. Nobutada had done his ancestors well, by defending the others, by his great sacrifice, and Miryu swore that his death would not be in vain. She was the last one to see him, running towards the guards, who were all firing at him, and as Algren carried her onto Yuki, her mare, she saw him fall, never to rise again.

* * *

"_So, you're hitokiri Battouryu," Nobutada said to Miryu the moment after his father had briefed her about the village and the surrounding areas. "I thought you should be older than I am, for someone so famous." Miryu looked at him, and offered him a small smile. The wind was blowing, and her scar upon her neck was revealed to him. "How did you get that scar?"_

_Touching the scar lightly, Miryu answered, "My friend's wife carved it before she died… She wanted me to remember the teachings of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu." There was a hint of truth in her words, but Tomoe did not really mean it. Her scar was to remind her of the victims she had claimed in the name of a new age of peace and vengeance, and that she had used her skills for naught. But now, it was all different. She and Kenshin were now fighting under their own conscience, as protectors of their comrades and as mobile attackers to their enemies. She had been assigned to protect Katsumoto during his stay in his fortress-village, where Bakufu servants were said to have lurked around the mountains._

_Nobutada regarded her for one moment, and said, "My name is Nobutada… Shall we be friends?" For the longest time, Miryu stared at him. She told him that she barely knew him, that she was a hitokiri whose hands were stained with blood, but his next words almost brought her to tears. "Hey, mine are as dirty as yours, see?" he said to her, letting her see his pristine palms. "No one knows what the future brings for us, and I think that we'll be good friends…"_

"_Miryu," she told him her name, instinctively knowing the reason for the slight pause in his words. "My name is Tsubasa Miryu…"

* * *

_

It was the first time Miryu had met Nobutada, and the days that followed allowed her to become a child once again, even while she was on assignment. He was a special friend, her only friend around her age apart from Kenshin, and was able to bring out the best in everyone… If given the chance, he could have been a leader just like Katsumoto, and perhaps someone even greater… But it had to stop there… It just had to… That night, she did not feel the pain as Ujio used a pair of heated pincers to remove the bullet from her calf, or even the heat of the knife that he had applied to sear the open wound to prevent infection. She had watched many comrades fall throughout the years, but none were as close to her as Nobutada was… His death had a profound effect on her, and all Algren could do was to just be close to her.

"Ken wa kioki… kenjutsu wa satsu jin jutsu…" she murmured… Those were words that Hiko had told Kenshin and her when the former had tried to ask permission to leave to fight for the Ishin-Ishishi. The Indians had preached about the law of karma, but why would Nobutada, an archer and a swordsman, die by the bullets of the men he had fought to protect by his father's side, almost a decade earlier? It was a glorious death, but a death nonetheless… As Algren held her, she shed unnumbered tears, wishing that her friend's noble sacrifice would not go to waste. [The Sword is a weapon to kill, and kenjutsu is the skill of murder]


	34. Resolve

The ride back into the mountains was a hard one, for Miryu, for Algren and Katsumoto… It was because they knew that there would be a huge possibility that the next time they left the village would be their last. There was no doubt about it. The journey took two days and when night had fallen, Miryu and Algren sat by Katsumoto, each of them sitting around a small fire. There was only despair in Katsumoto's face, no hint of his stern charisma, no hint of the samurai lord of a simple village; just a man, grieving for his son. "In Tokyo I was prepared to take my own life…" he said to them, "Now I am here and Nobutada is dead, for what purpose?"

Algren was the one who answered. "To preserve your people," he said, as if it was the plainest thing in the world. Yes, it might be that they would be the last of the samurai, by heck, at least the samurai remained. No culture should ever be destroyed just to embrace a new age… Katsumoto just looked at him and told him that for 900 years his ancestors had protected his people, and now, he had failed them. The bitterness in his voice was so thick that Miryu could have sworn that she would be able to slice it in half with her katana. "Not yet," Algren continued. There was still hope, why Katsumoto could not see it?

"The Emperor could not hear my words," Katsumoto said, "It is over. His army will come, and even with our tactical advantages, we will all die… It is the end…" However, the American would have none of his words, he told him that they could make the Emperor hear them, that they would make a stand that even Omura could not defeat. "He is only interested in the ways of the new…"

Miryu refuted that. "No, he wants to embrace both old and new," she said, "I know him as you do, Katsumoto-san, the only thing that stands between him and us, is Omura. Once we defeat his army, he has no choice but to hear us out… That is why you must live on the see that end." Katsumoto knew that she feared death least of all, but the will to live within her was strong, her desire for life, burning like the flame she was. She was a daughter of the samurai, who also viewed that death was glorious in battle, but she was also a human, who wanted to spend her breathing moments to the fullest, and make them as numerous as possible. But Katsumoto knew that this ending was not for him…

Algren continued to stare at Katsumoto, who did not even heed Miryu's words. "So what?" he asked the bald man. "Are you going to surrender?" Katsumoto just answered that he would take his life, in shame. Then why did they rescue him for, if he was still going to kill himself? If Katsumoto committed seppuku, then Omura would have already won, and all that he had lived for, all that the samurai had lived for all this while would have been for nothing.

"I will die by my sword," he continued, "Or by my enemy's. We have always lived by the sword, and we have always died by it as well." The sword, known to the samurai as the katana, was their soul. Made to withstand almost everything, sharp, accurate and deadly, they embodied the samurai in almost every aspect of their lives, including the quest for utter perfection.

"Then let it be your enemy's," Algren replied. He would not allow Nobutada's sacrifice by wasted, and he would not allow everything that he had come to love disappear in the course of history. He knew that every single man under Katsumoto's orders thought the same way as he did, but what they needed was his approval and his own willingness to fight. They needed his leadership, and only he could stand up once again, and lead them into the last vestiges of glory.

Katsumoto looked at Algren, and then at Miryu. Nodding his head, he begun to understand what he needed to do, and thanked them for making him see it, one way or the other. It would be their last stand, and even if they were defeated, all those who faced them would remember how they had fought for their own beliefs, and the preservation of their way of life. And from that, they would achieve more than their ancestors could. So long that anyone would be able to recall that stand, they would be immortal.

* * *

It was already dusk when Algren and Miryu sat with Taka and her family. Usually, at dinners, Nobutada would be there as well… He would be there, constantly picking innocent and almost pointless fights with Miryu, and playing with his younger cousins, helping Taka with some other chores, and talking to Algren as well. "He was a good man," Algren said, observing the little family, unable to stop himself from thinking what responsibilities Higen would have to face if Katsumoto really did die in the coming battle… The child and his younger brother were the last remaining heirs of Katsumoto's bloodline, and all hope for the future remained in them, young as they were.

"Will you fight the white men too?" Higen asked both Miryu and Algren. Sadly, he watched them as they nodded. Algren said that they come to destroy what he had began to love, while Miryu answered that if they would not fight, the army would come to the village and raze everything to the ground… For their safety, they had to fight; there was no other choice… As if he was greatly angered by their answers, the child rose and stormed out of the house, giving Algren a little shock.

Taka just barely smiled. She had forgiven Algren for her husband's death, and had been moved even further by his words. "The way of the samurai is hard for children," she explained, "He misses his father."

At that realization, Algren suddenly felt a pang of guilt which had almost disappeared for a long, long time. "And he is angry because I am the reason of that?" To his surprise, she answered that it was because Higen was afraid that he and Miryu would die as well. The minds of children were ever so pure, Miryu told herself, remembering that she was once like Higen, a lifetime ago. If she did not fight, if she had chosen to watch, or to ignore their plight altogether like Kenshin, would they still have a chance?

Higen was out in the porch, looking at the stars when Miryu came out to talk to him, followed by Algren. "Miryu Nee-chan, my father taught me that it was glorious to die in battle," he told her, looking at Algren as well. Algren told the boy that it was what his father had believed to be, and nothing more. "I… I would be afraid to die in battle…" For someone so young, he had seen enough bloodshed, as all samurai children. Even before he could have remembered, when he was but one year old, Miryu had faced ten men trying to kill him and Taka, and she remembered clearly that the blood of the Bakufu agents she had killed were splattered all over him as Taka held him in a white blanket.

"So would we," Miryu said. She did not know about Algren, but her words were chosen so that she would actually comfort the child. She had thoughts like his father as well, who would often tease her that she should remain at home cooking and sewing instead of seeking more glorious ways to die, even as they fought back to back… Looking at Algren, she continued, "We have been in countless battles, but we were always afraid."

Higen sniffled a little bit, and told them both, "I don't want you to go…" He hugged Miryu and Algren as best he could with his tiny arms, and they returned the gesture openly. However, the tender moment was interrupted by Nakao, who told them with a bow that the Imperial Army was already coming. It would be a little more than a day later that the army would reach the battlefield, but preparations had to be done already. Giving Higen one last look, the two of them went to see Katsumoto with Nakao, hand in hand.


	35. Preparation

Miryu, Katsumoto and Algren looked to the valley below, and saw the Imperial Army marching towards them in highly organized columns, their formations precise and strict… These were no longer the farm-boys and peasants that Algren had trained the last year, no, these were soldiers, and their mission was to rid the world of the samurai… "I'd say about five thousand," Algren said, guessing their number. "They'll come in waves of a thousand, a few minutes apart… and they have the howitzers." No single force could withstand the cannons, it was a fact.

However, Miryu had a plan. "What if I lead a small group of men and take out their guns and those howitzers?" she asked Algren, citing her prior experience of cutting down enemy artillery during the Bakamatsu. But Katsumoto refused to give her permission to do so, although it would be a wise move indeed. If Miryu was not present in the front lines, the men would be demoralized, as their best fighter would have been thought to have abandoned the cause, and they could not afford that outcome at all.

"Five hundred of five thousand, it does not matter," Katsumoto said, "They will come and we will make our stand…" When Algren asked how many men he had, the rebel leader gave him a truthful, blatant answer. "Five hundred… like Custer, no?" Miryu smiled at the mention of General Custer, the American General that led 208 American soldiers to death at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, whose ultimate and heroic death had reached the shores of Japan not long before Algren's arrival. He had been the General's subordinate, as he had told her before… But those numbers would have fitted a more classical, ancient battle before…

And it seemed highly apparent that Algren knew of that battle, and Miryu decided to let him speak of it, silently startled of his knowledge of the classics. "There was once a battle in a place called Thermopylae, where three hundred Greeks held off a Persian army of a million men," he told Katsumoto. "A million… do you understand this number?" When Katsumoto had assured him that he understood the number, he continued, "For two days the Greeks made them pay so dearly that the Persian army lost all taste for battle and were defeated soon after." There was more to the Battle of Thermopylae than just a king leading his men for a last stand, just because their laws had forbidden retreat, it was a battle for honor, glory and freedom, much like what they were doing now… It would be a battle to remember, a battle to be a reminder that they had fought for the coexistence between old and new…

"Even if all of us die in the coming battle, we will still be remembered by those who fought us and survived," Miryu told Katsumoto. "Our memory would remain with them, and they will pass that memory down… We shall never be forgotten, and that is where we shall gain the greatest victory…" At her words, Katsumoto smiled. Miryu always had a way with words, and her ideals of prolonging life had always been her goal, even now, even as she knew that she could be rushing to her own death. She really was a special warrior… He then asked her and Algren if they believed that they believed that one's destiny could be changed, and to that, the latter said that he thought that one would do what one could until his or her destiny was revealed.

That answer pleased Katsumoto greatly, and he bowed them farewell for the night, returning to his home. There would be a lot to do in the morning, that they needed the rest from the long ride that all of them had endured.

* * *

The next day, the entire village was abuzz with activity; there were great balls of dried grass, covered with pitch to be made, wooden fortifications against the countless rains of bullets they would have to face, and arrows to be fletched. Miryu had received a suit of leather from the tanners, a suit that could enable the movement and agility that no garb could grant her of Japanese tradition. And into the distance, tents upon tents of samurai clans were made, confirming that there were samurai who would die to protect their way of life and their own beliefs.

Graham, not one to be brought down by the solemn mood, was contented by the opportunity to capture many, many photographs of the samurai, and he had even the chance to take a candid shot of Algren and Miryu walking in a quiet trail, hand in hand, as though nothing had happened… He was the first gaijin to have this chance, to capture such a collection of samurai life, a culmination of a thousand years of tradition and pride, and he was greatly honored.

At dusk, Miryu and Ujio sparred with one another, dancing through their respective kata one last time before the day of the battle came. Night was spent in utter quiet, and before long, the time had come for them to meet the Imperial Army in the field of battle. Just as Algren and Miryu were walking into Taka's house to offer her family their last goodbyes, she led them into her husband's shrine, and said, "It would honor us if you would wear this armor," and gestured towards the armor that Hirotaro once used.

Algren was speechless. He had killed the man who wore the set of armor, and yet, his wife granted him permission to wear that same armor into battle. He bowed low, thanking her most sincerely, and Miryu, already in her leather suit, decided to aid him in putting it on. Smiling, Taka excused herself from the room, giving the lovers some privacy.

That single moment between Algren and Miryu, was silent, and tender. They did not know that they would survive the battle or whether any one of them had to live without the other… As Miryu undressed him, carefully placing each item onto his body, Algren could see that tears had begun to well in her sapphire eyes. He was a failure, he told himself. He had known her to be a woman of strength from the first moment he met her, yet, it was he, who caused much of her tears in recent times. He wanted to say something, to make it all better, but he could not, for he did not know what words to use, what words to say to her.

"There," she whispered, after a long silence, regarding him in samurai finery once she had finished… Forcing herself to smile, she suddenly found herself in his arms, and slowly began to cry openly. She was never afraid to die, but she could not imagine a life without him by her side, now that she had found him. Her existence had been one of duty, one of honor, and for a small while, one of darkness and shame, but the moment he had entered her life, it had been one where she had come to find love… "I love you…" she murmured softly, feeling his large hand on the back of her head, another, on the small of her back, holding her as tight as ever.

Algren inhaled the soft scent of her hair, and replied, "I love you too…" Their lips met, tentative at first, progressing into a kiss that they would never forget, one that was bittersweet, without the passion they had known for one another, aiming to comfort, and to reassure that somehow, they would survive the coming ordeal. Taking her white hands in his, he started to kneel, and said, "I cannot promise you anything, Miryu, and I… cannot give you what an Emperor can… but before we go to battle, I want to ask this of you… Miryu, will you marry me?"

The woman standing before him was shocked. Surely he could not be joking, proposing to her in a time like this… but then again, what could be a better time? When they were dying in the battlefield, or perhaps when they would meet one another in heaven or in hell after they have died? There would be something to live for, a goal that they would strive to achieve, and without another second of thought, she nodded her head and kissed him with what she had in her. Overcome with happiness, he spun her around, before recollecting himself, and took her by the hand, leading her out of the house, where the others were waiting for them.

Once they were outside, they were greeted by Ujio, who gave Algren a stern look and helped him to adjust the armor he was wearing, and slapped him on the back, a brotherly gesture that transcended cultures. They walked towards Katsumoto, who gave him a katana, made by the sword-smiths in the village, a fine specimen of flawless craftsmanship so common in the makers of the weapons of the samurai. There were characters of the blade of the weapon, which Katsumoto had told him that meant, "I belong to the warrior in whom the old ways have joined the new."

The moment was complete, and once they had all posed for a few final photographs, taken by Graham, Katsumoto shouted a great battle-cry in which all of them responded atop their horses. Within minutes, they charged towards the gates of the village, towards the plain amongst the mountains, and towards certain death. It would be their last stand, and it would mark the glorious end of an old age, and the beginning of a new one, of which the younger generations would embrace that the customs of old, and learn the ways of the new.


	36. Last Stand

The position that they had chosen was a strategic one, where there were great slopes of green grass which could force the battalions of the Imperial Army to funnel from them, which would break their formation, where escape would be difficult. "Green fields, the cool breeze of spring, the blue skies above…" Miryu said whilst scanning the scenery around them, "This place should be a picnic spot, not a battlefield…" The warriors around her broke into a bout of laughter, suddenly aware of the irony around them. She remembered well that she chose to fight with the blade of her katana reversed the last time she was in battle, and this time, she was sure that she would fight as she always had, for there was no use of a glorious and suicidal last stand of sorts if there was one among the suicidal madmen who fought, but cut no enemy down.

"Well, this is all it boils down to," Graham said to her, patting Yuki lightly. "I wish you good luck, my dear." She smiled, and said that she survived thus far because of sheer luck, and this time, she was unsure if Lady Luck still liked her enough to grant her some more. "You'll pull through, don't worry." They would all be dead if she did not, Graham thought to himself, with Miryu being one of Japan's greatest warriors in every sense of the word.

With shining eyes of sapphire, her gaze was directed to the hill before them, where there were three horsemen, dressed in full uniform. Under the glare of sunlight, she could not recognize their faces, but she could see that one among them was of smaller and bulkier stature, and the anger from that man was so evident in his own Ki, or the lack thereof… Omura was there, he was there to see them die, either in utter glory, or in utter shame. At Katsumoto's call, she quickly rode with him and Algren, followed by Ujio to meet them. It did not take long for her to recognize the other two riders: one of them was Colonel Bagley, the man she loved to hate, and the last one, was Gant's NCO, the young and pleasant soldier that she was sure that the Irishman had taken a liking to before his untimely death.

"Sir, the Imperial Army of Japan demands your surrender. If you and your me- er… fellows lay down your arms, you will not be armed," Bagley said to Katsumoto, fumbling slightly on his words when he saw Miryu next to Algren once again. Damn, was that woman as hard to kill as Algren was, or was she just invincible? Katsumoto simply stated that his surrender would be impossible, as Omura had already known. It was then when Bagley cast a poisonous look at Algren and Miryu. "Captain Algren, we will show no quarter. You and your bodyguard ride against us, and you are the same as they are."

Algren gave him a wry smile, and replied, "I'll take that as a compliment, Colonel… and Miryu here won't be holding back this time." Omura looked disgusted at the loving smile Algren and Miryu shared at the former's remark, and decided to keep his silence. In the matter of seconds, the girl and the American would be killed by the massive numbers of his men, and he would not have to set eyes upon the two of them ever again.

The attempt made by the Imperial Army had failed, and they would have no other choice but to use military force. It was a strange experience for Miryu, fighting against an army, for during the Bakamatsu, she had been killing men who were not soldiers. She was simply killing other warriors, whether they were samurai of serving the Bakufu, who hardly attacked in single units, or a rag-tag group of whatever the enemy could throw at her. It was something that she looked forward to, a welcome change, to say the least.

Just after the moment Algren had told Graham to stay by the horses, and had given him all his journals, he returned to Katsumoto and Miryu's side. "What happened to those three hundred warriors at Thermopylae?" Katsumoto asked the two of them.

"Dead to the last man," Algren answered without hesitation, with a knowing smirk on the corner of his lips, causing Miryu to smile at both men. There seemed to be a strange bond formed between Katsumoto and Algren, one that transcended cultures, one of brotherhood. "Well, perhaps we'll be luckier, with Miryu here…"

She scowled playfully, and asked, "Am I some sort of good-luck charm now?" However, their playful banter was interrupted by the impact of a howitzer round upon the ground, a mere eight feet away from them. They were out of range, but not for long… It would take a simple adjustment of firing angle before the howitzer rounds would be able to fall around them, and just moments later, a few among them were already killed by a single round. Now, the enemy's range was perfect.

Quickly, Algren told Katsumoto to tell the men to fall back, and fall back they did. Before long, they had caught side of the first division that the Imperial Army sent towards them, and no one need telling that Omura wanted a full-scale attack against them. Behind the wooden barricades, the samurai waited for the soldiers to fire at them, and when they did, the effect was staggering. Many among them had fallen after only two volleys, and that was when Algren gave a signal, at which a single archer, second only to the late Nobutada, fires a flaming arrow which landed accurately at a cache of pitch, which created a terrifying wall of flames that enveloped the soldiers.

With their escape blocked, Katsumoto ordered the rest of the archers to fire, and before long, the soldiers were annihilated. "They will call for a second wave," Miryu said, unsheathing her katana. "Omura is an impatient man…" He would put up all the stops he could until every single one of them was killed. "And we are running out of tricks here."

"What do you suggest, Miryu?" Katsumoto asked, he was open to any suggestions at that particular time, and Miryu had proven herself to be quite… creative in such matters. Her answer was that they abandoned all creativity and just meet them head on, which she reasoned with much eloquence, was the only way they could do it. "You are indeed a genius…" he commented, before giving the order.

From then on, every single one of the samurai lost track of time. All they knew was that they had to fight with everything they had, and fight, they did. The bell on Miryu's katana was ringing constantly, and it seemed to all those that looked upon her that she fought with effortless ease. The sapphire orbs of Tsubasa Battouryu from that moment on became coated with a shade of gold, the eyes of the legendary hitokiri. She had known no hatred towards them, but her resolve to defend her own people was so strong that it had replaced what rage she had in her heart. A student of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu served no master, and now, she was fighting on her own terms, in her own manner. Yes, she may be assigned as Algren's bodyguard by the Emperor, but even her servitude under His Imperial Majesty as under no formal bond, but her own willingness to act as his bodyguard, and now, she was "on loan" to Algren until she was married, per the Emperor's edict.

"She's good," Bagley commented, looking at Miryu through his binoculars. He had never seen her fight before, and this was the first. With her back to Algren's, it seemed that the stories he had heard of the female dragon that brought Kyoto into a river of blood came true before his eyes, and with her skill, not only Algren, but many others were left unscathed. "Would it be wise to take Miss Tsubasa out first?" His suggestion fell upon deaf ears, for Omura saw nothing now, no reason so long winning the battle remained his goal. Turning towards the NCO, he asked, "Son is Miss Tsubasa really as invincible as you Japanese claim she is?"

The NCO dared not answer the question. As a youth, he had fought in the same battlefield as Miryu before, and he remembered the amber glow of her eyes as she crossed swords with Harada Sanosuke of the Shinsen-Gumi, and the power that all could feel from her… That experience had been shocking enough to see her behead two men with one strike of her sword, decapitating several more in rapid succession; nothing had been gorier to his eyes…

With the advance of the reinforcements for the first division, Katsumoto gave the order for Ujio's cavalry unit to emerge, forming attacks in three separate directions, screaming, charging towards the advancing soldiers. It would be a battle to be remembered by the textbook authors of warfare, Miryu smiled to herself as she impaled a young soldier in the chest with her katana. His form had been good, but his footwork so bad that it was not worth a mention, and if he had met with opponents like Nakao or Ujio, he would have been worse off.

Next to her, she heard a man calling out Agren's name, and found it to be Silent Bob, diving to save Algren from a bullet, but she was even faster: Throwing her wakizashi into the soldier's chest, before he could have fired the shot, saving both men at the same time. Silent Bob bowed to her in gratitude, while Algren just pulled her close to him for a quick kiss, appalling the elder to no end. "Be careful, Captain," she murmured before instinctively ducking a swing of the bayonet and performing an almost acrobatic leap before killing the soldier with what was known as Ryu-Tsui-Sen of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, the Flash of the Dragon's Hammer, an attack that ended with the soldier being spilt vertically into half.

Before they knew it, three thousand men had been sent to their deaths, three thousand men who faced 500 samurai, including a gaijin and a woman, 500 samurai who were armed with only the weapons that had been and still were the pride of their ancestors. Omura had began to panic, and told Bagley to send the reserves, seeing that only a hundred now remained, as if the gods had granted him victory finally. "Miryu… where are you?" Algren called, before he found his beloved, standing not far from Ujio, who had already been gravely wounded. "You have to get out of here!" he shouted, knowing that Omura and Bagley would send the heavy artillery in, and there would be no hope for survival.

"I won't leave this battlefield, Captain Algren, whether you like it or not!" she shouted back, staying her ground. She knew that she had seen this before, in a dream, in a dream so long ago… Why did some of her dreams have to be prophetic in nature? This was where she belonged, in the battlefield, free, and fighting for her people, and even Nathan Algren could not sway her. In her dream, he and Katsumoto managed to convince her to escape, but not this time. She was staying, and she made him see why by killing another soldier before him, allowing the poor boy's blood to splatter onto Algren's red armor. "I am a samurai just as they are, and if I die here, I would have died as a student of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, living in its principles and dying by it!"

Defeated, Algren put his arm hand on her shoulder, and looked at her for one moment before continuing to kill the soldiers around them. They fought until the soldiers stopped advancing, and they knew very clearly that it was not a sign of victory. Three thousand soldiers had been felled, and four hundred samurai… But what was a hundred samurai against the remaining two thousand reserves, and the full might of the artillery?

The last charge of the horsed samurai was a glorious one. They had been assaulted by many howitzer rounds, but they were undaunted, and when they were out of range, and they resonated fear into the hearts of the soldiers. Volley after volley did not seem to kill them, and when Algren saw that the time was right, he took his katana, reversed its grip and threw it directly into Bagley's chest before pulling it out when he rode past his former superior, honoring his promise to kill him for free.

Just a little more… just a little more, and they would have reached the Gatling guns, and Miryu would be able to cut them down, but it seemed like it had never been their fate to achieve it. When almost all the riders had been killed, when only naught but twelve or fifteen remained, they were shot by the Gatling guns. Dropping from her horse, Miryu executed once again, the ougi of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu, Amakakeru-Ryu-No-Hirameki, killing all those before her at point-blank range. It was a sight more magnificent than the telling of ancient tales, that at least ten men fell victim to the claws of a dragon.

Falling onto the green grass next to Algren, she found that only she, Algren and Katsumoto remained alive… Ujio had been shot to his death, Nakao killed earlier, while Silent Bob disintegrated by a howitzer round… The circle was complete… and the battle was over. They were defeated, and by the gods, did they make a last stand. Moving towards one another, bleeding profusely, they did not notice that the soldiers around them had stopped their attacks, and something most miraculous happened.

The young NCO deliberately disregarded Omura's orders to kill them, and took off his hat. With utmost reverence, he knelt down and prostrated before the three survivors, with the others rapidly following suit. The battle had been won by the Imperial Army, but the war in the name of the samurai's lives and their way of life, it had been won by the samurai themselves. Nothing could change that, not even Omura's seeming rage.

"Help me up," Katsumoto told the two of them, giving Algren his sword. The American refused to help Katsumoto, but he replied that by their traditions, Miryu could not do so, and he had wanted to die by his own honor. Reluctantly, he took Katsumoto's life, with Miryu holding his hand, steadying the katana for him. "They are all perfect…" were his last words, and when Algren and Miryu turned around, they saw a sakura tree, with the most beautiful blossoms… Katsumoto had finally found what he had wanted to find, and he was in peace.

But there was more than that waiting for the man and woman who fought for the samurai, the sole survivors of what seemed to be a hopeless cause. "We are yours to kill now," Miryu told the young NCO. "Do so as you see fit…" she shouted in Japanese, knowing that Algren would understand her words. However no bullet round came… All of the soldiers remained as they were, prostrate, honoring their enemies. They were destined to live, and they had received the honor to do so. Overcome with gratefulness, and with grief, relief, and a myriad of other emotions, the two of them returned the gesture, and when they rose, they were awarded with countless applause.

The young NCO walked towards them and picked up Katsumoto's katana, cleaning the blade, and sheathing it before wrapping it in a sheet of silk that he seemed to have prepared. "Tsubasa-san, Algren-taicho, the Emperor has told me that he would see you should you survive," he told them in his native tongue. Perhaps they had survived the battle, but what fate the Emperor had in store for them, they did not know… Bowing, they agreed to return to Tokyo with what remained of the Imperial Army, and were treated like honored heroes of the battle, given the best treatment and care until they were well enough to enter the gates of the palace, almost a week after the battle.

"No matter what happens, I'll be by your side," Miryu said to Algren before they were ushered into the imperial throne room. "If death awaits me, then so be it."

For the slightest moment, Algren gathered her into his arms and held her as best he could without injuring himself, and kissed her on her forehead. "I know…" he murmured, and walked into the throne room with her, one hand holding hers, and Katsumoto's katana in the other.


	37. Ending

The Emperor saw Miryu and Algren enter the throne room in their uniforms, and was relieved that they were well. But they were still in pain, their wounds had not fully healed, he could see that Algren was limping, and Miryu, his dear Miryu, looked as if every single step she took was excruciating. He could see that the two of them were leaning against one another, as they walked towards him, after bowing to him. And he could clearly see their resolve within their eyes. Algren was holding a silk-bound object that the Emperor had suspected was a katana, while Miryu, her sapphire eyes were cast down, looking occasionally at Algren and at him. She had ignored Omura completely, not even returning his glare, as she always would. With great difficulty, they both knelt to the Emperor, who heard the sharp intakes of air from them that stemmed from the pain they had felt, and the young ruler walked towards them , despite Omura's efforts to stop him. The arms deal could wait, Meiji reasoned.

Both Miryu and Algren unfurled the package they had taken to them, which was revealed to be Katsumoto's katana, and held it high above their bowed heads. They had presented it to the Emperor, and wanted him to take it, to honor his teacher in his death. A request that needed no further words, but Algren did so anyways. "This is Katsumoto's sword," he said, eyes downcast as ever. "He would have wanted you to have it, to let the strength of the samurai by with you always…"

Miryu looked into the eyes of Meiji and with it, told him the grief that had taken her. He was a teacher to the both of them, but he was a father to her. Meiji knew it, and he knew it well. "Your Imperial Majesty, it would mean more to Katsumoto-san that you take this katana, and even greater to the future of our people as well…" she said in plain English. The Emperor did not lack in the knowledge of that language, and she wanted the American Ambassador to know it too.

However, Omura was adamant that the treaty be signed. "Enlightened One, we all weep for Katsumoto but…" He was interrupted by Algren, who said that Katsumoto hoped that the Emperor would remember the ancestors that held the sword he and Miryu were holding, and what they died for. Touched and moved, the Emperor knelt to retrieve the katana, almost reverently. And all could see that for the first time, the Emperor had revealed himself to the others before him fully. Clutching the katana, housed within the black saya, he looked at it, and began to remember every single one of Katsumoto's teachings, each and every one of them.

"You both were with him, at the end?" the Emperor asked the man and woman before him, in English. Miryu nodded, and Algren confirmed it with a bow. Even as Omura stressed that Algren and Miryu fought against him, he continued to look at the katana, eyes filled with tears. If there would be a part of his life as an Emperor that would be one of the greatest sadness, it would have been that moment.

Algren lifted his head slowly, and said, "If you believe me to be your enemy, command me, and I will gladly take my life…" The Emperor then cast his eyes towards Miryu, wanting to know her answer.

"I will go, where my heart tells me to, heika," she said, looking at the Emperor, and back at Algren, making her intentions known to the young ruler. "But if you wish for me to join Algren, then I shall have no regrets, heika." Her answer was something so finite, but so graceful. In her words, she had told him that she loved the American, and to the others, that she shared the American's thoughts. The Emperor reached out to her flawless face and cupped it with his hands for the briefest moment, and nodded at her. He had given her and Algren his blessing, a secret, laid so openly, but known only to the three of them.

Rising to his full height, the Emperor looked at the two lovers and to the others saying, "I have dreamed of a unified Japan… independent, and modern." All eyes were on the young Emperor, and all wondered about what he was about to say. "We have railroads and cannon and Western clothing… But we cannot forget who we are, or where we come from…" He turned towards the American Ambassador and said, "Ambassador Swanbeck, I have concluded that your treaty is not in the best interests of my people." There, he said it, and whatever the Ambassador tried failed to turn him into the other direction. Outraged, the Ambassador stormed out of the throne room without any heed of protocol, and Miryu held up her hand towards the Emperor discreetly, telling him not to act against the insult.

What followed next was a war of words between Omura and the Emperor, who felt that what Omura had done, was already enough, he who had destroyed the last vestiges of the people who had propelled the Japanese into success in the ancient times, who created their traditions and their philosophies… "Everything I have done, I have done for my country…" Omura said, but the Emperor had had enough.

"Then you will not mind if I seized your family's assets and present them as a gift to my people!" The Emperor replied. Omura paled. It was this act that had destroyed the Tsubasa Clan, save for Miryu, and he did not wish for that dishonor to fall upon his family. Both Algren and Miryu were in tears of gratitude for the Emperor's actions. And when Omura told the Emperor that he had disgraced him, the Emperor offered him an ultimatum. "If the shame is too unbearable, I offer you this katana…" he added, causing Omura to bow his head and remain silent. He may have been a man drowning in shame, but it was still better than being a dead man.

Once Omura was defeated, and muted in the throne room, the Emperor focused his attention once again at Miryu and Algren. He commanded them to tell him how Katsumoto died, but Algren replied, "We will tell you how he lived." The Emperor nodded his head, and hence, they began their tale. Time seemed to be frozen from that moment on, but when they had finished, and when all the ministers an advisors had left, something happened. Miryu collapsed, and when Algren held her in his arms, he found a pool of blood almost forming where she had been kneeling.

Immediately, doctors were called into the throne room, and they had diagnosed that one of her wounds was accidentally opened as she had forced herself to kneel for so long, sometimes bowing even lower, when the Emperor bowed as well. She was lucky, that the bleeding had been stopped before it was too late. Relieved, the Emperor ordered that Algren and Miryu be allowed to stay in the Palace until she had fully recovered and allowed Algren to leave with her.

* * *

Three days after the audience with the Emperor, Miryu was given a clean bill of health, and was discharged from the medical bay of the Palace. "Captain Algren, you have done much for Miryu and my country," the Emperor said to Algren that very afternoon after he had visited Miryu. "As such, you shall not go without a reward." The American soldier stated that he was not worthy of such a reward, especially after he had gave her the permission to marry Miryu, which was all he had wanted. "Let this show the gratitude of my people, Captain Algren." At that, Algren relented. He was given Katsumoto's estate in Kyoto for safekeeping, and as his own, for he knew that his teacher would have had no use for the estate at all. The village in the mountains would go to Higen, in the care of Taka until he was old enough, and on top of it all, Algren was given the rank of samurai formally, and that he was allowed to wear his katana in public, as Miryu was, as well as a part of Omura's assets as compensation for the injuries he and Miryu had sustained and all the complications that would surface.

"Heika, I am honored," Algren replied, and to his amusement, the Emperor playfully remarked that it was not for him, but to ensure that Miryu becomes a wife of a man who could support her with great stability befitting her status. "Miryu will be as well."

The Emperor smiled. "Miryu is a woman that all men loved in one way or another," he told Algren. "Katsumoto and her Shishou loved her as a daughter, your little English friend as a niece, Himura Battousai as a sister, and you… you truly love her as a woman. And that is why, I know that she will be happy in her life with you. Now come, you have many things to discuss with Miryu, especially your wedding ceremony…"

However, the Emperor lied about the wedding ceremony. He had already planned a most lavish and majestic one for Miryu and Algren, and the day after the traditional Japanese wedding, another was held according to Western customs. Everyone from the Ishin-Ishishi who still lived was invited, including Miryu's maternal kin, and it was a sight that no one would have thought to see. Warriors, leaders and hitokiri from both sides, the Bakufu and the Ishin-Ishishi, converging at one single event, honoring the most unlikely of couples, the bride, a famous hitokiri Tsubasa Miryu, named "Battouryu" during the Bakamatsu, and the groom, Captain Nathan Algren, now a samurai inheriting Katsumoto's estate. Reiyama Reiji, her maternal grandfather had been proud of his granddaughter, and saw for the first time in his life, the glow of her sapphire eyes in the happiness of her marriage to Algren. Even Kenshin was there, talking to Miryu, Algren, almost everyone. It was as if Battousai had resurfaced again, and Battouryu's wedding, no less.

After the official ceremonies, yet another was held. And this time, it was in Hiko Seijurou XIII's house in the Kyoto Mountains, a quiet and private one. The Master of the Hiten-Mitsurugi Ryuu was proud of his disciple, for what she had done, and that she had found so much peace and happiness after a lifetime of rage and vengeance. And Miryu could have sworn that she saw her mother's spirit that day, when Hiko had suddenly hugged her and told her how much he loved her and was proud of her. For the first time, she saw her mother's long hair, and almond-shaped chestnut eyes. And she knew that it was Reiyama Ryumiko, because the bell on her katana had been ringing, even if was leaning against the wall, without the breeze to cause it.

* * *

"And so, Tsubasa Miryu, now Miryu Algren, or Algren Miryu, depending on where you were, and Captain Nathan Algren ended a great chapter of their lives in what love they had for one another, and began a new one in the New Age for Japan," Graham said before a full lecture theater in London. There were banners all across the venue which promoted his book, titled, "The Last Samurai, and the Daughter of the New Age". The book had been written based upon the accounts in Algren's journal, which also contained writings regarding Miryu's past, as the captain had derived from her. "And in years to come, the Rising Sun of Imperial Japan would fly in triumph over Korea, over Russia, even over China. Nations, like men, it is sometimes said, have their own destiny…"

Applause roared over the lecture theater, followed by many reporters asking where Miryu and Algren were now. "Well, I'd like to think that the two of them are having an adventure of their own, somewhere, just the two of them," he answered with a clear gleam in his eye. Far in the back of the lecture theater, the exit door creaked a little, signaling that someone was leaving, and the sound of a small bell ringing could be heard…

* * *

HAN: So, this is the last chapter of the fic, and I hoped that you liked reading it as I have loved to write it!!

* * *


End file.
